Madrid taken over by hundreds of sheep for annual festival

Madrid's streets were left baa-dly congested on Sunday, as more than 2,000 sheep passed through its bustling city centre for an annual event.

The Spanish capital sits on ancient migration route where shepherds would move their livestock south for the winter.

The event is known as Fiesta de la Trashumancia (transhumance festival) and is promoted by local tourist authorities.

The festival started in 1994 and is designed to pay homage to the area's rural heritage.

It exploits a medieval rule which allows shepherds the right to cut through the city with their animals.

Every year, a nominal fee is paid in exchange for the safe passage of the animals, in a ceremony between the mayor and the chief herdsman at the city hall.

• A 540-mile trip to be reunited with a lamb

• The orphaned pig who thinks she is a sheep

• The bunny who is best friends with sheep

It honours a 1418 agreement with the city's council where the price of 50 maravedís al millar (50 coins per thousand heads of livestock) was set for the animal traffic.

Some accompanying the animals wear traditional clothing, including clogs, for the festivities.

Visitors to the city on Sunday took some time to take in the bizarre sight - with the capital unusually free of traffic.

"We didn't know but we were lucky," one tourist told Reuters news agency.

"We just arrived yesterday and they told us it's going on today. And we were like - oh yes! Once a year and we are here."

Many of the sheep wore bells for the occasion, which made for a noisy affair on Madrid's streets.

The event started at 10:30 (08:30 GMT) local time in the city's largest park - Casa de Campo.

From there, the sheep made for city hall for the traditional payment ceremony, before heading back out by 14:00.

Aside from the 2,000 merino sheep on the city streets there were also about 100 goats in attendance, Reuters reports.

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