You’re in Madrid, Spain, right smack in its busiest section, the Puerta del Sol. People have been telling you that this place is compared to Times Square, only with Spanish flags, and you believe them. You look around and admire.

Then suddenly, you hear a rumbling sound. A herd of animals are walking down the street in the Times Square of Madrid. A thousand goats pass in front of you as you stare in amazement. There’s bleating amidst all the tinkling sound of the bells on their neck. It’s all very surreal.

This is called transhumance. It’s the seasonal movement of livestock from one place to another to avoid harsh weather conditions. This animal movement involves a million animals: sheep, goats, cows and other grazing animals. Normally, though, transhumance never happens on a city street, or at least all other streets apart from the streets of Madrid.

Well, in Madrid, it’s a protest transhumance, and it has been happening for 14 years already. It’s a form of protest done by farmers and rural activists. You see, in Spain, the grazing areas are protected by law. They should not be touched nor developed into anything else. These grazing areas or pasture have been enjoyed by rural animals since the ancient times. Recently, these protected grazing areas are slowly being endangered by urban development. Although these areas are not being blatantly encroached upon by the urban landscape, they’re actually edging closer. The protesters, the animals and their owners, are fearful that if these movements are not checked, they might find themselves robbed of their grazing route and feeding area.

So, there amidst the architecture of Madrid, the animals protest their way to a better pasture.