The Spaniards are very good at creating a festive atmosphere.


Herdsmen driving their flocks through Madrid turned out to be a grand festival, attracting tens of millions of tourists from all over the country and even foreign countries.


On a certain Sunday from the end of October to the beginning of November every year, the Madrid Sheep Festival is held grandly. Thousands of rams and ewes, led by more than a dozen shepherds, marched across the capital Madrid to spend the cold winter in the warm regions of the Spanish lowlands.


The reporter has watched the Sheep Herding Festival many times, and this year it happened to be a lively event again.


In 1994, the Madrid government officially designated this as a festival, so there were many entertainment programs on the day of the festival.


For example, before the arrival of the sheep, the citizens of Madrid walk through the city centre in bright ancient national costumes, followed by a large-scale blowing performance.


The band came in a mighty way, blowing trumpets and drums to clear the way for the sheep. For safety, Madrid dispatched hundreds of police officers and dozens of police cars to escort the crowd and sheep.


After the crowd, the sheep came on stage. Under the protection of the shepherds, the lambs entered the streets of Madrid.


To let the sheep walk on the designated sheep path, the shepherd keeps shouting "sheep words" that only the sheep can understand.


The shepherd not only shouted, but also whistled from time to time to direct the sheep to move forward.


The reporter found that the sheep was very obedient and did not desert the team without authorization. Influenced by the streets of Madrid, the flocks of sheep sometimes have to line up in long lines, and when they encounter the square, the flocks will form a circle and walk together.


All the way forward is under the command of the shepherd's "sheep words", and no sheep violates the order.


However, the only thing that is not ordered by the shepherd is the problem of sheep shitting and urinating everywhere.


A shepherd told the reporter that following the flock of sheep was the excrement-sweeping team sent by the city government. They gather the sheep manure and send it to the factory to make fertilizer.


These fertilizers are naturally organic and good for plant growth. Every year during the Goat Festival, thousands of sheep can produce hundreds of kilograms of high-quality fertilizer. The reporter found that there were indeed several garbage sweepers collecting sheep manure near the flock of sheep.


There is a toll payment program during the Sheep Drive Festival. The person in charge of the shepherds needs to pay a little toll to the city government, and the mayor can sign the mayor's decree agreeing to cross the road.


It turned out that a hundred years ago, due to a large number of sheep, there was a lot of excrement and urine when passing through Madrid, and people complained, so some people set up obstacles to prevent the sheep from passing, and the shepherds had to ask the local patriarch for help.


After negotiation, the shepherd only needs to pay 10 silver dollars to the cleaning team to clean up the sheep manure and give it to the villagers as fertilizer. Today, this payment behaviour has become a traditional performance project.


The reporter found that wherever the sheep passed by, people would reach out and caress the sheep's body. It is said that this shows the love of humans for animals, and the soft cry of lambs is regarded as thanks for the care of humans.