The rural routes in Spain are still maintained today all over the country. The tradition in Madrid is from the 1300 when shepherds would take their sheep to better grazing ground depending on the season. To maintain the route it is supposed to be used once a year. Shepherds pay the city government 5 coins for the privilege of crossing the city and maintaining the right for livestock to cross through Madrid. It is a festive occasion where the shepherds from all over Spain wear their traditional costumes. Madrid of course has changed. Now the sheep pass by the fanciest hotels and jewelry stores. I remember the first time I read of live stock going down the streets of the city of Gaudi and one of the bulls broke the window of a clothing store. I didn’t understand it until years later. It is an old custom to run the bulls through town to the bull ring. I thought it was only the custom in Pamplona where Ernest Hemingway made it popular by his novels. It is a tradition all over the country. I was in a little village one day where they were taking the bulls to the bull ring. Everyone was watching from their balconies or behind fenced doors. All the sudden one of the bulls entered a home. The owners couldn’t see it as they were standing on the balcony and the bull entered beneath them. Someone had to go into the home and chase the bull out. The owners who couldn’t see what was going on didn’t realize the bull was in the house. It was a funny incident but not an uncommon one I learned. Old traditions are still well and alive in Spain.