In the foothills of the Sierra de Gredos, in the southernmost part of the province of Ávila and on the slopes of the Almanzor peak, are the towns of Candeleda and El Raso. From the Neolithic, when the first settlers began the domestication of the wild goat , until today, livestock farming, which has contributed significantly to shaping the landscape, has represented one of the most important elements of the culture of this territory. The hut was the obligatory home of the shepherds, cowboys and goatherds while they were caring for the flocks. They were built on a circular plan with a masonry wall and roofed with a layer of biélago, broom and broom. A pine pole driven into the center supported the entire conical structure of the roof. The pastoral huts, which once served to house those families who spent the summer with their herds in the highest parts of the mountains, have practically disappeared and only some of them have been preserved or rehabilitated. “This construction was for cattle. We kept ourselves here, in this hut, the cattle would go back, and we would graze up, for the mountains. This is 45 years ago that we were here, but then to the thing of the pines and that we had to go down, for ... Seniors, maybe there were two marriages, but then all the young people, around here, well maybe there were 10 or 12. We would go up at the beginning of June or by June 10 and then we were here the rest of June and July. By August we were going down, to where we had the sheepfolds. " “Well, shepherd up, for that mound that you see and here they came at night, we milked and took the milk to the cheese factory, which is there in the gutter, and we made cheese, then we made cheese. And every eight days we would take that cheese in caballerias and we would take it to sell to Candeleda. " “Man, we also had the right to cheese, to eat cheese and milk, but they took it to town, they took money and from those bitches they put bread, oil and everything in the hut and they threw it to the horse and here to the hut again." “The wolf came there to the majadal. We had two or three mastiff dogs. If he didn't catch them, maybe in the first dream, the wolf would come quietly, take one and take it down and eat it. When you wanted to smear the dog, the goat had already eaten the bug. And during the day, as long as you didn't see them, they attacked the cattle too. " There are fewer and fewer goatherd families that live in the mountain sheepfolds throughout the year or that have their livestock there and daily go up to tend it. With three of these families we are going to learn about the daily life of these people who maintain the livestock tradition of the Sierra de Gredos. In the area of El Raso, seven kms. José Blázquez and his uncle Lorenzo live in the town, on the slopes of the mountains, with a goat herd of about 200 heads. For several generations, José's family has dedicated itself to the care and breeding of goats in this mountain territory. Every day, at dawn, the first task they perform is to milk those goats that still have milk in the truss. The milk collected in the bucket is poured into the milk churn through a filter that serves to separate the solid matter that may have fallen. "Well, this milk now, this being an isolated area from the rest of the farmers, because we have to go down to El Raso, which is the closest town, because the collection truck does not go up here ." Until a few years ago, the goatherds of the Sierra de Gredos made exquisite artisan cheeses in their own sheepfolds, transforming the milk they milked every day. Today, after the prohibition of making cheese on the mountain itself for sale, the milk must be transported in hermetic containers to the cheese factory, where they will be responsible for the production of the cheeses, complying with all the hygienic-sanitary regulations established by law. They have to travel twice a day, once in the morning and once in the afternoon, the path that separates them from the cheese factory. After milking the goats and before releasing them to the mountains, José adds a food supplement consisting of corn grains to the feeders . When the feeders are ready, the pen doors are opened and the goats flock in search of this food of their choice. "Well, we just gave them the feed, which ... based on cereals, corn, oats and barley normally, what they are given. Well, today has been particularly corn, and now we took them out to graze in the countryside. "" About this time around, about 11 am, since we took and all day are grazing in the bush. " But the main food of the goats is provided by the vegetation of the environment. Depending on the time of year, the quality and quantity of this food that nature offers them varies . In any case, one of the two herders has to stay with the cattle in the forest to control their movements. “With these goats, be careful, it is because maybe they come alone and give them to pull down there and go to that farm below. And the damage is more than what they are worth. " While the goats are grazing in the mountains, José walks around the corral to tend the little goats that have not gone out with their mothers. “The ganau we have 200 goats. Well, these kids are all destined, most of them, except those that are raised, are all destined for slaughter. " Lorenzo and José have grown up among these mountains taking care of the goat herds. His knowledge is based on the experience of many years dedicated to raising and caring for goats. “I carry more goats than not sheep and cows. But those three things I have kept a lot. But I was born among goats. Since I was little until I was 48 years old, and I am 62, I have always gone with goats. See if I've been with them for years now. If they hit me, it's because I want to. " "Man, since I was little I helped my father with the cattle tasks." "Well, since I was little, since I was 5 or six years old, I was going to help them." In this area of the Sierra de Gredos grazing is extensive, and it is only housed at night; the cattle spend the day eating freely in the mountains on municipal property. "This belongs to the municipality of Candeleda, a fee is paid for each head of cattle, annually, and gives the right to graze throughout the year." “Man, goats are very selective animals when it comes to food. They eat the most tender of each plant. And yes, its diet, you can see it, based on herbs and shrubs. " “Being the correct livestock load is an indisputable environmental benefit. For example, let's say you're fighting fires because they eat some vegetation. " “It is the same with cheese. They don't let it do it. You can make one or two, as if there are four, for the house, but for the same house. Nothing to take them for sale. For sale you can not. " “And milk is good because it gives the place. Up here, the milk has more degrees than down there, on the farms below, since ... there are many holm oaks. Let's see if you understand me. And this is stronger milk. It gives more fat. " Before collecting the cattle in the corral, the milk chicks must be left very clean so that bacteria are not produced that could harm the product obtained in the next milkings. To José's whistles, the goats respond by approaching the corral where the kids are waiting for them. Upon arrival, the kids go in search of the udders of the respective mothers to receive their milk ration.Some kids that have lost their mothers or are in double birth must be put to teat with other goats that have been taken away. the kid to sell it and they are still producing milk. “Yes, because their mothers have given birth to two and then they don't have enough milk to raise them, for some reason the mother lacked. Then it helps him. " On some occasions, the mothers reject them and the shepherd has to feed them from behind so that they do not see the kid. “To suckle a goat from behind. Give a lot of war ahead and go goring with her. The mother no longer exists, so you have to give her from someone else. " At dusk you have to do the same task as in the morning: milk all the goats that still have milk in the truss. “Well, between the two milkings, well, between a liter and two. There are exceptions, there are animals that give more, others give you half a liter. On average, yes, a liter and a pint or two liters. Between the two milkings, let's go. " In addition to the production of milk for the manufacture of cheese, the sale of goats constitutes the main source of income for these goatherds. "Well, this is because soon we are going to sell a game and put a number on it. Each farmer is assigned a number in case there is an incident in the slaughterhouse, because we know a little about the origin, the traceability of the kids. Day by day, as they have been doing all their lives, these goatherds from the El Raso area milk the goats twice and take the herd out to graze in the mountains. Then they lower the milk obtained to the plant and, when they have their optimum weight for the market, they sell the kids that they have destined for meat. In another area of the southern slope of the Sierra de Gredos, Filemón Delgado with his wife Manuela occupies the sheepfold that they inherited from their family. They are now retired and it is their son Fili who takes care of a herd of around 260 goats. The first job they do in the early hours of the morning is to milk the goats and collect the milk from the dairy to transport it to the cheese factory. For these goatherds from the Sierra de Gredos, the key to their survival has been to lead a self-sufficient life, raising and cultivating everything they needed to eat around the small house or hut . Filemón has a small zahúrda where a sow and some pigs live that it will slaughter in the winter in order to store its meat for the whole year. “Another is coming there. That is berraco. That's the berraco. There are four and three down there, in another shortcut there. What for you is not! " On a daily basis, Filemón collects a quantity of whey from the cheese factory at the cheese factory, which is used to feed the sow and her young. "The little ones? To sell after ... And some for us, we eat some. We kill them, we put them in the freezer and when we feel like meat, we eat meat. And others ask us and we sell them. " "The little ones suck on the sow." “Then comes the oak, which is this one, it throws acorns, they fall to the ground and the pigs eat them . They take advantage of it. " “They eat acorns, and now grass. And look, they come in search of the flour, they eat the flour too. " "Well, if time doesn't beat them, they stay calm, there and that's it." “Now, since the weather is not bad, they are back here, but then they get into the scramblers. There goes a tarp and there they get, they take refuge there. " This way of raising pigs at ease in the mountains, sometimes causes the crossing of females with wild boars. “Maybe the wild boar will come and cover the slut. That has already happened to me. It happened to me a few years ago, a slut like this, one who was white, 10 or 12 years ago. She covered herself with wild boar and the wild boar came after her to sleep in the sty, but she had some little dogs that caught the wild boar and threw it into the bush. And the bitch caught wild boar and 14 wild boar that she brought. " “They are like scratches, they are like little wild boars, but they are humps, eh. We left three for us to kill them after great and how brave they were. But the dogs ran them, as well as let's say, up to there, but they turned to the dog and the dog had to go back. Quiet! The dog had to turn back because the wild boar was attacking him. Get in the corner! " Filemón uses the manure from the goats and chickens as compost for the small garden next to the house, which provides them with all kinds of vegetables. “Lettuce, tomato and onion. And then back there, there I put the pepper and some beans. I have not already put it because the weather is bad and if it is very cold, no. And it does not shoot. Look, we had put this plant in a month ago, it would have worked, but it has frozen, it has frozen at night and it has frozen. "" There I have the pool, with that I water it and here it is a wonderful planting . " “We have olive trees, look where there is one, and we take oil for the year and we sell a lot of oil. Chestnuts, you see, chestnuts, figs, grapes, everything. Here you just need to buy bread, because there is no wheat here, but we have an oven there, it used to be dough , but not anymore. We no longer dough. " "Look at this one, the donut has cut it off , a bug that is underground, has cut it off and loaded it. A good plant and it has screwed up. " “This is what we do all year round. Here we pick tomatoes, peppers, beans, everything. " "Well, the day today, doing good, because at six o'clock one goes out there in the field, shepherding with them. The day that is bad because they do not leave the sheepfold, we put the feed there, the alpacas there too, to eat, they have water, and from there they do not leave. Because it is not convenient for them to get wet, because they are very short- haired and do not want to get wet. " Philemon, who inherited from his father the right to use this sheepfold, for reasons of age has already left the flock to his son Fili. He also learned the trade since he was a child and is the one who is currently in charge of taking the herd to pasture through the territory of the mountains whose use has been awarded by the city council. “And to graze in that higher area, where there was more grass at that time. It was what was done. I was little and I even remember taking me, he had to carry me on his shoulders because I got tired, and go with him for a few days. " When spring arrives and the snow is disappearing, Fili goes up daily with the herd to the high meadows, just as his ancestors did in the summer season, to graze the best areas of the mountain. “Well, they need land more or less outside the trees, the pines, which is where more grass usually comes out. For example, that area that goes below the Almanzor, because that area is one of the best. " Like the rest of the goatherds in the Sierra de Gredos, Fili has stopped having milk and cheese making as its main source of income. “This goat that we have here is practically for meat, the kid. When it comes to producing milk, they produce less than other breeds such as the Malaga, the Granada. This one that gives the best is the kid. " In the shadow of the Almanzor peak, in another area on the southern slope of the Sierra de Gredos, Mauricio Vaquero and Mercedes Morcuende have their house in a sheepfold quite far from the nearest town. They too have dedicated their entire lives to raising goats. Like the other goatherds, this couple has also been transhumant until a few years ago and today they have about 220 head of goats, which graze in a large expanse of forest that surrounds the house. “Well, what I have been uploading, we were going up in early June, let's say, and we were putting up with the summer. Then, when it started badly, in late September, early October, we already brought a part of the herd. Those who were going to give birth, let's say, the others stayed there and maybe they would come to you when the weather is already very bad. Let's say because of the weather, not something else. " “I have gone up to the hut with a girl that I have and I was one year old. And it was not necessary as much roll as now, that if the nursery, that if I do not know what, that if I do not know how many. And she has grown up just as well. " “Well, we have already milked and now we have to bring the milk, because the truck does not arrive here. So we use the donkeys here as in the past, come on, not as in the past, as we still do now. " “There are about 10 kilometers and something. Round trip, an hour or so. " Due to the isolation of the sheepfold and the lack of access for trucks, Mauricio must transport the milk obtained daily in hermetic milk cans to the cheese factory. Donkeys have always been excellent animals for loading and transporting goods and those from Mauritius already have the habit of always making the same route, from the sheepfold to the cheese factory. "They are donkeys, and since they are donkeys they are a bit stubborn, but as usual, once they get used to it, they do it out of routine, let's say." “Well, now I'm going to unload some serum, the catcher is a good guy and he gives me some for the animals, to feed the animals. And this is." Mauricio and Mercedes also have a herd of breeding pigs that, after slaughtering them in the winter months, will be used to obtain sausages, hams and marinated meat. In this way they have guaranteed meat food for a whole year. "We are going to put the bozo on the goat, so that it does not suck and leaves a little milk for us." “Normally I make them out of rockrose, then I take a piece of leather, which is for the hook of the nose, from above, and a rope to hold it. It's very simple. ”“ Well, it doesn't stop sucking, it can chew and ruminate and that, but it goes into an area where ruminants don't have teeth or molars and the stick fits there. And when he sucks, he takes in air, air enters him and does not let the milk come out. " The bozo is usually put on the kid when it is about four months old and that is when the milk is replaced by other foods and I think. “And now that we have come to bring the milk, because the goats are released. And also if you have to put a bozo, also a cowbell, but let's say that they are already free time things . " In the middle of the morning, Mauricio unleashes the herd of goats through the mountains and they themselves go in search of their food. “Well, now, do, do ... If they are good, you don't do much. The only thing to go over them and spend the day as well as possible. Let them eat so they have good milk in the afternoon, which is what it is all about and nothing else. " “They know how to find food on their own. The only thing to accompany them, because there may be other livestock, they can be mixed, let's say, be a little aware. " “The goat always pulls to the mountains, as they say, to the heights. They are always looking to go up. Then they are already sweet. If it is time that there are acorns, then you can not neglect that they go where they fit. As they smell that there are acorns, the acorn drives them crazy. Then they run everything. But if it is not for a sweet they do not go out of their daily route , more or less, they change the face one way or another, but more or less they always have their currents. " The quality of the milk obtained will depend on the richness of the nutrients provided by the bushes in the area. Here, the vegetation is very varied and the herds receive all the necessary food to obtain excellent quality from their milk and meat. “Well, this is good. In this matter of feeding the goats, here is the heather, the rockrose, the thyme, there are quite a few varieties, there is a lack of the bush that would be very good for them in summer, which is the small oak, but then they rise higher than there is broom. Also the year that remains a little vanilla is very good for them. They are very natural foods that are what these animals want , so that later there is a rich milk, of course. " While Mauricio is in charge of leading the herd of goats to the area of the mountain that he wants to run on this day, Mercedes is in charge of cleaning the dairy and doing housework. “Well, for example, he brings the milk in the morning and I, when he comes, I stay at home and he already goes there with the goats, and if he has to do something in the garden or something, he does it. I will aviar the house and then to sew if I have to sew and if not, I will go that way. " This experienced woman also shared life with other goatherd families in the huts of the sheepfolds at the top of the Sierra de Gredos. There it was the women's task to make the cheeses. “That was smaller and then I had less work, because it was smaller, it was swept before and everything, but it was a hut that was made of stone and then on top of wood, made of carchones. We made the cheeses, there in the cheese factory. We had, we took the highest yet. And then we made the cheeses. We had the cheese maker and made cheese. More work than now. " In addition to housework and caring for the farmyard animals, Mercedes is in charge of making the food, taking advantage of everything that they themselves can produce. Self-sufficiency is the norm of these goatherds who have known how to make their environment a means that allows them to obtain what they need to live. “Here we have eggs with chorizo or torreznos or things like that for breakfast and then we have lentils, or white beans, or green beans. The stew too. ”“ Well, the potatoes, the lettuces, the onion, we sow all that, the green beans, carrots, everything. ” "Pigs and chickens, and everything." "If we run out of bread and I can't dough, we went down to El Raso for it, but come on, I'll do it too." “Here we are fine. Here we have a good time and we don't remember El Raso at all. " "Well, what our corral does not give us, we have to look for it in hypermarkets, in stores, wherever, but hey we have quite a few things." “A little difficult to live only with the skinned goats. You have to have a little more help from one side or the other. " The economic regime of these families of goat farmers revolves around the use of the two main products of the goat: meat and milk. But this self-sufficient family economy is also complemented by raising the animals that will serve as food and with the work of the garden for the cultivation of vegetables and other products of the field. “Plow the garden. Here we must sow sustenance for this year. So we plow it now so that the land is ready for when we have to plant the tomatoes and peppers and such. "" Here we put a few tomatoes, a few peppers, carrots, lettuce, potatoes, finally, aubergines, because we have a climate very good and here, it is not a lot but it gives everything. " Work in the sheepfolds is constant and there are always things to do. “Here is that there is no free time. Here is that there is very little free time. Here if you are not milking you are cleaning the pen. If you are not cleaning the corral you are in the garden, if you are not in the garden ... and if you are not standing because you want to, because there are a lot of things to do. " In the afternoon, like the other goatherds, Mauricio will collect his flock and bring it to the sheepfold so that the goats can nurse from their mothers. Then he will extract the milk from the goats and the next day , after the morning milking, he will go down with the product obtained to the cheese factory. On a daily basis, these men and women of the Sierra de Gredos, dedicated to raising goats, carry out their work with enthusiasm, just as they learned from their ancestors, despite the difficulties that this entails. "It's complicated. It takes a lot of vocation to continue in this activity. " “Man, we will try to continue, but there are many problems that we face. Regarding regulations, reforms of the common agrarian policy, continuous reforms. There are many problems, of course. " “Hard? Yes, it is hard. That you get along because you like it. It is also true. Missing ?. There are times when you would like to play the game and there is no one here. "" If it weren't for that, for what you like and such, then we wouldn't be here, because it is profitable, profitable to be here, it is not. " Those older goatherds, who lived the hardships of the times when summer life was carried out in a hut and the rest of the year lived in small and uncomfortable shacks, today they have noticed a great difference compared to the ways of life of yesteryear. “I, until the 30 years that I was on my father's behalf, because life was more slave. But from the 30 years that Manuela and I started, it has totally changed. " “And you don't have that slavery that we, Manuela and I had in those huts upstairs. Passing grief. It had to be there, good or bad. The storm was coming, you got under the hut, but the goatherd who went with the goats, where the storm caught him, had to be there. " “Man, this has changed a lot, no doubt . This is now more bearable. Before it was more, it was a gloom, why go up, go down. You realize that you had to carry pigs, if there were any chickens, chickens up, then chickens down. Bringing the food for these animals and everything in horses, because mechanized to the positions of the goatherds, normally, there has been nothing. Yes it was nice, let's say things as they are, it was nice for those who like it, because not everyone likes this. " “Well, it has changed a lot, for example we have a track to the farm, which there was not before and comforts well enough. Before it was a shack, now you have a more or less decent house, with a bathroom and everything. We have a car, which we did n't have then, we didn't have. It has changed like night to day. " “Man, the distance might be the biggest drawback. The distance and being quite far from the town. For the rest, maybe not having to be bound by any schedule and managing your work your way. " “And all of us who like the countryside, we like, let's say, be a bit on our own terms. Now they make us be like a bird in a cage. About. And we like to fly in freedom, go a little looser, not have so much story, so much roll of ... but hey. " Although the comforts of the last goatherds who still inhabit the mountainous landscapes of the Sierra de Gredos have improved considerably today, the problems generated by the application of European regulations and the lack of young people with a vocation who want to get involved in this Activity outweighs the spirit of freedom and self-reliance that life provides in these idyllic landscapes.
