In the Footsteps of Transhumance: The Shepherds' Trails of Alpuente

Our landscapes hide ancient secrets that deserve to be discovered step by step—such as the shepherds’ trails, the Cañada Real de Castilla, the Vereda de Alpuente, and the living memory of our communal tradition.

An Empire Forged in Wool: The Honrado Concejo de la Mesta

To understand the importance of our rural trails, we must go back to the year 1273, when Alfonso X the Wise established the Honrado Concejo de la Mesta de Pastores. This institution brought together the shepherds of León and Castile, granting them exceptional privileges such as exemption from military service and rights of way and grazing.

Over time, thanks to the prized Merino wool, the Mesta acquired immense power. International demand from England, France, and Flanders made this activity the foundation of the Iberian economy, first financing the Reconquista and, later, the expansionist policies of the House of Austria.

Successive kings—and most notably the Catholic Monarchs (through the Ordenamiento of 1489 and the Ordenanzas of 1492)—fortified this network of livestock trails. Although the wool economy began to decline in the 17th century and transhumance gradually faded in the face of agricultural interests, the routes of those trails remain etched in our land.

Trails with a Living History: Cañada Real and Veredas de Alpuente

Walking through our municipality is like stepping back in time. The landscape of Alpuente preserves vestiges of that golden age of pastoralism:

• The Cañada Real de Castilla: In its western section, sections of dry-stone walls still remain—ingenious structures built to mark the route and prevent livestock from encroaching on crops.

• The Vereda de Alpuente: A dirt path of varying widths that, before reaching the hamlet of Baldovar, crosses bridges designed to span the ravines in the terrain.

• La Torre Livestock Trail: In the village of La Torre itself, the two boundary walls next to the local watering hole remain intact. On another section connecting to the Cañada Real, the walls are still standing.

The Communal Herd and the Dula: An Example of Shared Resources

The stones and trails are not merely vestiges of the past; they have forged the soul of Alpuente and its traditions of solidarity. One of the traditions that persisted until not long ago—and which you can learn about in depth by visiting our Alpuente Museum of Ethnology—is that of the communal flock.

The villagers would pool their sheep to form a single flock. Shifts for taking the animals out to graze were organized equitably through the “ir a días” system: each resident tended the flock for a number of days strictly proportional to the number of sheep they had contributed.

Today, there are few professional shepherds left in our municipality, but the essence remains intact. If you take a leisurely walk along our trails, you may still come across a flock grazing in the sun, reminding us that the rural heartbeat of Alpuente is still alive.