Madrid has a new plan for clearing underbrush in its parks, and it's also a new attraction for park visitors: a flock of over 500 sheep hard at work in the Case de Campo, the city's biggest park.
The sheep reduce the risk of wildfires by clearing vegetation without tearing up the soil or burning fuel. According to Beatriz Garcia San Gabino, 46, in charge of Madrid's green spaces. "It's a very efficient method to prevent wildfires in a much more natural way... Instead of clearing scrub with machines, you use sheep which don't consume fuel and don't erode or contaminate the soil."
Two full-time shepherds and a dog work with the sheep, who sleep at night under a giant tarp on a park hilltop. They are a near-extinct Spanish breed, Rubia del Molar. They'll be home on a ranch in a mountain village by late June, ducking the hot summer, but will return to Madrid in October, when the weather is better for sheep.
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