00:00:45.399 --> 00:00:46.759
Many years ago,

00:00:47.119 --> 00:00:51.719
a man who governed this country
ruined many villages

00:00:52.039 --> 00:00:53.759
and it was instilled

00:00:54.200 --> 00:00:57.280
that villagers should move to the cities
because they were yokels.

00:01:06.280 --> 00:01:07.400
Now there's a trend

00:01:07.799 --> 00:01:10.920
for people to go out herding for a day,

00:01:11.319 --> 00:01:12.959
to learn about beehives

00:01:13.079 --> 00:01:14.840
and to make honey and so on.

00:01:15.079 --> 00:01:17.400
So I don't think we're such idiot yokels

00:01:17.560 --> 00:01:19.879
when people are coming here to learn.

00:01:36.959 --> 00:01:38.120
The shepherd profession

00:01:38.560 --> 00:01:40.760
is a pleasant one,
but as society sees it

00:01:40.959 --> 00:01:44.040
whoever chooses to be a shepherd
is no good at anything else.

00:01:48.640 --> 00:01:52.439
That's kind of how it was seen years ago,

00:01:54.599 --> 00:01:57.599
which we must admit, regretfully,
because that's how it was.

00:02:07.760 --> 00:02:10.560
You depend on the weather, the markets,

00:02:10.960 --> 00:02:13.919
the government.
If at least they showed interest,

00:02:14.039 --> 00:02:16.719
but they only show interest
during election years

00:02:16.840 --> 00:02:18.919
then you're on your own for three years.

00:02:22.960 --> 00:02:24.599
We are the last of the Mohicans

00:02:24.719 --> 00:02:27.360
and unfortunately, it's happening fast.

00:02:34.719 --> 00:02:37.360
You find two completely different worlds.

00:02:37.719 --> 00:02:39.360
Those who see it like,

00:02:39.639 --> 00:02:41.879
"Everything is so beautiful,

00:02:41.879 --> 00:02:46.199
I love it,
I hope everything stays this way,

00:02:46.199 --> 00:02:48.520
I hope it never changes," like Heidi.

00:02:49.280 --> 00:02:52.400
And then what it's really like here.

00:03:00.560 --> 00:03:03.599
Life has changed and youngsters
have a different way of life,

00:03:03.719 --> 00:03:06.039
many people learn about us from museums,

00:03:06.159 --> 00:03:07.879
from what they read

00:03:08.000 --> 00:03:10.360
or a photograph they see.

00:03:11.919 --> 00:03:16.319
If things carry on like this, 30 years
from now there won't be any sheep,

00:03:16.800 --> 00:03:17.960
there will be less.

00:03:23.680 --> 00:03:26.639
THE PATH OF THE SHEPHERD

00:03:41.879 --> 00:03:44.120
My grandad always had sheep

00:03:44.240 --> 00:03:47.039
and I remember him
going out shepherding

00:03:47.319 --> 00:03:48.639
all day

00:03:49.159 --> 00:03:50.719
he only came home for a while.

00:03:53.560 --> 00:03:56.879
Lorena is a hard-working person

00:03:57.120 --> 00:04:01.400
and her character and frame of mind
come forth when she's with the sheep.

00:04:04.840 --> 00:04:06.919
I studied Forestry Engineering

00:04:07.039 --> 00:04:11.000
which I then validated
with the Forestry Engineering Degree.

00:04:12.439 --> 00:04:16.079
When I finished
I did a postgraduate course,

00:04:16.319 --> 00:04:19.680
and then I worked
at the university for a while

00:04:19.800 --> 00:04:22.040
with the Forest Sciences Centre
of Catalonia

00:04:22.160 --> 00:04:27.480
and then I decided to go back home,
because that's where I like to be.

00:04:27.920 --> 00:04:32.439
I've studied away from home,
living in place, a city,

00:04:32.560 --> 00:04:33.879
in a bigger place

00:04:34.160 --> 00:04:37.360
and I've realised it's not what I want.

00:05:01.040 --> 00:05:05.120
It isn't feasible to be 24 hours a day,
365 days a year

00:05:05.279 --> 00:05:07.920
because no one can withstand that,

00:05:08.040 --> 00:05:11.160
our grandparents did,
my grandad was a shepherd

00:05:11.279 --> 00:05:14.800
for the rich family in the village
for a piece of bread,

00:05:15.399 --> 00:05:16.920
but that's unfeasible now.

00:05:25.120 --> 00:05:27.560
We take the sheep up the mountain

00:05:27.680 --> 00:05:31.759
because we have to make the most
of the pastures we have,

00:05:32.000 --> 00:05:36.879
they aren't journeys lasting several days
as a transhumance shepherd would do,

00:05:37.040 --> 00:05:38.839
we have the mountains

00:05:39.360 --> 00:05:43.319
relatively close by,
a couple of hours away on foot.

00:05:45.160 --> 00:05:49.439
The sheep have lots of food there,

00:05:50.160 --> 00:05:54.680
they have a lot of land to roam
and it's great for them,

00:05:55.199 --> 00:05:57.279
they come back lovely and fat.

00:06:08.759 --> 00:06:12.040
The young people,
the majority of us are all friends,

00:06:12.399 --> 00:06:13.720
you've no choice,

00:06:13.879 --> 00:06:17.480
if you reduce your circle of friends
you end up on your own.

00:06:19.959 --> 00:06:22.319
I look after Lorena's sheep
as if they were mine,

00:06:22.439 --> 00:06:24.439
Lorena mine as if they were hers

00:06:25.439 --> 00:06:27.319
and the rest do the same.

00:06:30.279 --> 00:06:33.600
The shepherd profession
is a disappearing profession

00:06:33.720 --> 00:06:36.199
but there's still
that base of young people

00:06:36.319 --> 00:06:39.120
which encourages you
because when you hear

00:06:39.319 --> 00:06:42.319
that things aren't going well,
and you hear it a lot,

00:06:42.519 --> 00:06:46.079
you end up thinking
that things aren't going well

00:06:46.279 --> 00:06:48.680
and you end up closing down the farm.

00:06:59.399 --> 00:07:03.319
When I told my mum that I'd do this
when I finished my studies

00:07:03.519 --> 00:07:06.160
she didn't take it too well
because she said,

00:07:06.319 --> 00:07:08.160
"After all that studying, it's a shame..."

00:07:10.360 --> 00:07:15.079
They experienced
a much harsher way of farming

00:07:15.680 --> 00:07:18.040
and they don't want
the same for their children,

00:07:18.160 --> 00:07:22.319
therefore this handing down
to the next generation is disappearing.

00:07:42.759 --> 00:07:47.360
I have to go to work and I don't think,
"Hell, I have to go to work."

00:07:47.360 --> 00:07:50.000
Not at all, I do it happily.

00:07:57.560 --> 00:08:00.000
I don't care if it's Saturday or Monday,

00:08:00.000 --> 00:08:01.800
I go happily every day.

00:08:01.959 --> 00:08:05.720
Obviously there are bad days, you're tired

00:08:05.879 --> 00:08:08.360
or it's raining or snowing

00:08:08.519 --> 00:08:10.519
and you have to go shovelling
and you think...

00:08:10.639 --> 00:08:13.439
but I'm delighted.

00:08:33.799 --> 00:08:37.279
older women come and say,

00:08:37.440 --> 00:08:41.039
"Wonderful, a shepherd!"
I say, "Excuse me, I'm his mother"

00:08:41.159 --> 00:08:45.240
"and I'm female, I didn't need to have
a boy." They say, "What about the lad,"

00:08:45.559 --> 00:08:47.639
"will he be a shepherd?"
And I say, "Well,"

00:08:47.879 --> 00:08:50.960
"he can do whatever he wants,
I'll teach him,"

00:08:51.080 --> 00:08:52.840
and from very early on

00:08:53.080 --> 00:08:58.200
I've been taking him to see the sheep
and the cows, if he likes it later on...

00:09:10.399 --> 00:09:13.200
I'm the only woman in the valley.

00:09:13.639 --> 00:09:14.879
Traditionally

00:09:15.039 --> 00:09:18.159
it's been seen as a job for men.

00:09:18.399 --> 00:09:21.720
Women have always worked with the animals,

00:09:21.879 --> 00:09:23.600
but in the shadows

00:09:23.720 --> 00:09:25.600
because they weren't the farm owners.

00:09:25.720 --> 00:09:29.799
So, it isn't that people
want to discriminate you,

00:09:29.960 --> 00:09:33.919
it's just that many women
don't even consider it now.

00:09:59.679 --> 00:10:00.799
My partner

00:10:00.919 --> 00:10:03.960
has never had animals, and he'd say,

00:10:03.960 --> 00:10:07.799
All you have to do is feed them!

00:10:07.799 --> 00:10:10.279
Why is it taking you so long?"

00:10:13.639 --> 00:10:15.480
And I'd say, "Hey, listen,"

00:10:15.799 --> 00:10:17.399
"I have to do
lots of other things as well!"

00:10:17.639 --> 00:10:21.200
This year he's had to do it
and I'd say, "Are you coming now?"

00:10:21.200 --> 00:10:24.039
and he'd say,
"Do you think it's just feeding them?"

00:10:24.039 --> 00:10:25.600
"I've got lots of things to do!"

00:10:26.080 --> 00:10:28.320
So anyway, at least he's aware now

00:10:28.320 --> 00:10:30.279
of all the work that has to be done.

00:11:00.799 --> 00:11:03.600
The way stock farmers are looked upon,

00:11:03.840 --> 00:11:07.919
as individuals with no qualifications
and not very literate...

00:11:09.039 --> 00:11:14.360
We're a group of young people
with degrees here in the valley

00:11:14.480 --> 00:11:19.000
and we are with animals,
so we're an example that this isn't true.

00:11:19.600 --> 00:11:22.720
There's a general view
that we do little work

00:11:22.840 --> 00:11:26.159
and that we're only here to cash in
and nothing else.

00:11:26.320 --> 00:11:29.799
But I can assure you,
the majority haven't worked out

00:11:30.039 --> 00:11:31.600
that formula.

00:11:48.840 --> 00:11:50.879
During the lambing season,

00:11:51.000 --> 00:11:54.159
you go out in the morning
and you find loads of lambs,

00:11:54.759 --> 00:11:56.279
it's chaos.

00:12:01.639 --> 00:12:05.240
Two lambs, no one wants them.
Well, this sheep wants them both,

00:12:05.360 --> 00:12:07.279
right then, I'll put them in a pen.

00:12:07.399 --> 00:12:11.279
She wants them, fine.
I went back later and she had four lambs.

00:12:12.000 --> 00:12:13.799
The thing is,

00:12:13.960 --> 00:12:17.120
when sheep are about to give birth
they want all the lambs they can find,

00:12:17.240 --> 00:12:19.639
and I didn't look any further,
she wanted them, fine,

00:12:19.759 --> 00:12:21.480
and since she had lots more,

00:12:21.600 --> 00:12:25.919
I just set her aside,
then I had to search for real

00:12:26.039 --> 00:12:27.679
to see where they belonged.

00:12:50.519 --> 00:12:53.720
The shepherd profession is disappearing
for different reasons.

00:12:54.600 --> 00:12:56.159
What is happening

00:12:56.440 --> 00:12:59.440
is the same as is happening in Spain

00:12:59.559 --> 00:13:03.399
and in the rest of the world,
it's not exclusive to this area.

00:13:04.200 --> 00:13:06.960
I think the main cause

00:13:07.159 --> 00:13:10.639
is the amount of time
that the animals need to be tended to,

00:13:11.159 --> 00:13:14.679
it's more convenient to look for a job

00:13:15.159 --> 00:13:20.399
that allows you to work eight hours
and have two days off and so on,

00:13:20.519 --> 00:13:25.000
rather than something like stock farming
which implies being there every day.

00:13:37.879 --> 00:13:42.919
I hope sheep farming doesn't disappear.

00:13:55.879 --> 00:13:59.000
But it will have to change,

00:13:59.120 --> 00:14:02.840
this idea we have
of the shepherd with his sheep,

00:14:02.960 --> 00:14:06.159
like you see
in children's stories and so on,

00:14:06.279 --> 00:14:07.519
or how it was before,

00:14:07.639 --> 00:14:11.039
if we keep to that idea,
then yes, quite easily,

00:14:11.240 --> 00:14:13.879
it will end up disappearing.

00:14:47.600 --> 00:14:50.039
I always dreamed of buying a tractor,

00:14:50.159 --> 00:14:52.240
I always dreamed of having 600 sheep,

00:14:52.360 --> 00:14:56.080
I don't know why that number,
but my dream was to have 600 sheep.

00:14:59.720 --> 00:15:02.200
But my mother was the first to say,

00:15:02.320 --> 00:15:06.840
"No one will want to marry a shepherd.
That's the last thing you want to do."

00:15:13.519 --> 00:15:15.120
We have both tried

00:15:15.240 --> 00:15:20.960
to turn the world of stock farming around.

00:15:22.919 --> 00:15:26.399
We started off with about 200 sheep

00:15:26.960 --> 00:15:28.840
and very little land.

00:15:32.559 --> 00:15:34.240
I've always thought

00:15:35.399 --> 00:15:36.879
that in this sector

00:15:37.840 --> 00:15:40.360
it's very hard for me to have a job

00:15:41.639 --> 00:15:42.440
and him another.

00:15:42.919 --> 00:15:45.000
It's better if you work together,

00:15:45.120 --> 00:15:47.039
otherwise you don't understand things.

00:15:53.879 --> 00:15:56.840
To be honest,
we do what we do thanks to my wife,

00:15:56.960 --> 00:15:58.720
I couldn't do it on my own.

00:16:16.440 --> 00:16:18.240
The dreams we've been fulfilling,

00:16:18.360 --> 00:16:22.720
living them from the start
until we've reached the end

00:16:23.399 --> 00:16:26.720
to be honest it's been a demanding path.

00:16:27.519 --> 00:16:28.679
Very often,

00:16:28.919 --> 00:16:32.480
they have been Utopias,
you've reached the end of the dream

00:16:32.639 --> 00:16:35.360
and you think,
"Christ, all I've done is work harder."

00:16:39.519 --> 00:16:43.279
The obstacle
that most embitters him and me

00:16:43.440 --> 00:16:46.840
is the government,
knowing that you're working every day,

00:16:47.399 --> 00:16:51.080
you're working long hours,
and from all the work you're doing

00:16:51.320 --> 00:16:54.279
you can't live off it,
you depend on the government,

00:16:54.480 --> 00:16:57.279
and the government
makes you do things their way.

00:17:01.960 --> 00:17:05.359
Lamb which we are producing here,
an artisanal product,

00:17:06.200 --> 00:17:09.440
if you put it on the market,
no one would be able to buy it,

00:17:09.559 --> 00:17:12.960
it would be a very expensive product,
so what was the solution?

00:17:13.079 --> 00:17:16.799
We'll give them grants
so we can offer people cheap food,

00:17:16.960 --> 00:17:19.119
which is why
intensive farming is profitable:

00:17:19.240 --> 00:17:22.759
pigs or chickens, because they produce
a lot of meat in little time.

00:17:23.480 --> 00:17:25.640
In the end we're only favouring

00:17:25.799 --> 00:17:27.640
the large farms.

00:17:27.880 --> 00:17:31.720
Nowadays,
family farms are destined to perish,

00:17:31.960 --> 00:17:35.000
which is what really exists here.

00:17:54.119 --> 00:17:56.559
The day the people you have
start to fail you,

00:17:56.680 --> 00:18:01.240
you realise that the work
a well-trained dog does for you

00:18:01.359 --> 00:18:03.799
is the work of two or three people.

00:18:04.319 --> 00:18:09.799
We'd always had our grandparents'
age-old way of training dogs,

00:18:10.119 --> 00:18:13.839
but you realise
it's done differently in other countries.

00:18:14.640 --> 00:18:17.480
It's always been done
the same way here, telling the dogs

00:18:17.599 --> 00:18:20.119
to go up or down
and if they didn't go down,

00:18:20.240 --> 00:18:21.319
you'd shout, "No!"

00:18:21.799 --> 00:18:25.960
And they'd run in a different direction.
That's how it's always been done.

00:18:26.160 --> 00:18:28.240
And the dogs would always bite.

00:18:28.359 --> 00:18:31.240
Dogs here have always tended
to bite the sheep,

00:18:31.359 --> 00:18:35.200
and you'd shout, "Stop it!"
Calling on all the saints in the missal

00:18:35.319 --> 00:18:36.960
and finally they'd stop.

00:18:39.519 --> 00:18:42.960
In the end I thought,
"We have to do something

00:18:43.079 --> 00:18:47.880
to at least come to some understanding
with the dogs

00:18:48.200 --> 00:18:51.519
so it's less aggressive,"
because all you hear is shouting.

00:18:51.640 --> 00:18:52.680
You'd hear the shepherds

00:18:52.960 --> 00:18:54.279
and all you'd hear was shouting.

00:19:25.160 --> 00:19:29.240
The selection here was: whoever went most
to the pub and spoke well of his dogs,

00:19:29.359 --> 00:19:30.640
sold the most dogs

00:19:30.759 --> 00:19:33.079
and perhaps he had the worst dogs.

00:19:35.680 --> 00:19:36.559
The first

00:19:36.720 --> 00:19:39.720
is 12 years old
and it all started with this dog,

00:19:39.880 --> 00:19:42.559
it's retired,
it's 13 and has health problems.

00:19:43.200 --> 00:19:46.279
I guess it must have osteoarthritis
because these dogs

00:19:46.680 --> 00:19:47.680
go all out.

00:19:47.880 --> 00:19:50.880
It was the first dog
and it will end its days here.

00:19:53.000 --> 00:19:54.839
Educating your children, for example,

00:19:55.000 --> 00:19:56.680
is the same as educating dogs,

00:19:56.799 --> 00:19:59.960
you often have to assert yourself
without a word.

00:20:00.119 --> 00:20:01.000
Hitting them

00:20:01.160 --> 00:20:05.440
is no use at all. You can hit a dog
as you hit another person or a child,

00:20:05.599 --> 00:20:07.119
all you'll find is fear.

00:20:07.240 --> 00:20:09.200
And fear isn't good at all.

00:20:09.319 --> 00:20:12.680
In the end,
you can assert yourself in other ways.

00:20:14.839 --> 00:20:18.559
Getting involved
in this world of dog training has been...

00:20:18.680 --> 00:20:23.440
well, almost a hobby
which allows you to take a bit of a break,

00:20:23.599 --> 00:20:27.000
sheep take up your time 24 hours a day,
you don't do anything else.

00:20:27.680 --> 00:20:29.720
This has been my salvation almost.

00:20:49.480 --> 00:20:50.799
We have to realise

00:20:50.920 --> 00:20:54.680
that in this trade
we depend on outsiders all the time.

00:20:54.839 --> 00:20:57.640
When it comes to shearing,
there are no shearers here,

00:20:57.759 --> 00:21:00.640
there is no shearing culture
like in other countries.

00:21:03.920 --> 00:21:06.319
There were those who even thought

00:21:06.440 --> 00:21:08.920
that it wouldn't matter
if the sheep weren't sheared once.

00:21:09.400 --> 00:21:11.759
Personally, I think it would be mad.

00:21:15.559 --> 00:21:19.200
In the end, it's just added stress.
It's like us wearing

00:21:19.319 --> 00:21:23.599
two fleece jumpers,
a puffer coat and a duvet,

00:21:23.720 --> 00:21:27.079
and spending the whole summer
with a duvet on our back.

00:21:27.480 --> 00:21:30.480
I guess we'd be flat out on the floor
stifled in August.

00:21:30.599 --> 00:21:32.160
It would be the same for the sheep.

00:21:32.720 --> 00:21:35.440
Sheep need to shed their wool.

00:22:04.720 --> 00:22:06.160
It did a lot of damage here,

00:22:06.279 --> 00:22:09.079
Gloria, that famous storm
that left its trail

00:22:09.200 --> 00:22:11.599
throughout the whole region.

00:22:12.400 --> 00:22:17.519
Those were chaotic days

00:22:17.680 --> 00:22:19.480
because one of our warehouses collapsed.

00:22:22.640 --> 00:22:26.319
We didn't have time
to get live animals out,

00:22:26.440 --> 00:22:30.559
lambs that drowned,
there were sheep floating on the water...

00:22:30.759 --> 00:22:32.240
Anyway.

00:22:33.200 --> 00:22:36.319
Finally we were able to get them out,
risking our lives.

00:22:36.519 --> 00:22:39.599
I don't know if it's climate change
but something is changing,

00:22:40.400 --> 00:22:42.759
you can sense it in the climate,
the animals,

00:22:42.880 --> 00:22:45.599
the biodiversity, everything,

00:22:45.720 --> 00:22:47.559
in the end

00:22:47.839 --> 00:22:52.079
I suppose what they're saying
about climate change is what it is.

00:22:58.000 --> 00:23:01.599
It's a job that apparently anyone can do,

00:23:01.839 --> 00:23:05.759
there seems to be an image that
the stupidest person can be a shepherd,

00:23:06.000 --> 00:23:07.680
but it isn't as easy as it looks.

00:23:16.799 --> 00:23:18.680
It isn't easy

00:23:18.799 --> 00:23:24.039
for someone to come here
and get involved in a business like this.

00:23:25.000 --> 00:23:30.200
It's very hard to find people
who are willing to do this job,

00:23:30.440 --> 00:23:34.279
you have to be a jack of all trades
to make ends meet.

00:23:37.680 --> 00:23:39.960
When I was a child a shepherd was a person

00:23:40.079 --> 00:23:41.720
who took the animals out,

00:23:41.839 --> 00:23:45.240
out into the fields,
and he brought them back to the barn.

00:23:46.079 --> 00:23:49.720
If you haven't evolved
there may still be people who do that.

00:23:49.880 --> 00:23:51.880
But if you want to evolve

00:23:52.000 --> 00:23:53.799
you have to do much more.

00:23:56.920 --> 00:23:58.319
In the end, the native breeds,

00:23:58.440 --> 00:24:01.119
many of which are in danger of extinction,

00:24:01.240 --> 00:24:03.200
in the end we'll lose them

00:24:03.359 --> 00:24:06.400
and losing this is like losing
the Basilica of Our Lady

00:24:06.599 --> 00:24:10.039
or losing a church.
Lots of village churches are renovated,

00:24:10.160 --> 00:24:12.680
even though no one lives there.

00:24:13.720 --> 00:24:16.279
A church or a Roman bridge can be heritage

00:24:16.400 --> 00:24:18.559
just as a breed of sheep can be,

00:24:18.720 --> 00:24:21.039
a breed that has been preserved
over centuries

00:24:21.200 --> 00:24:23.079
by the inhabitants of a certain area.

00:24:47.680 --> 00:24:49.440
We always had sheep at home,
I liked them,

00:24:49.559 --> 00:24:53.000
but my family said
it was a slave-like job and so on,

00:24:53.119 --> 00:24:56.079
it was a tough job with no days off.

00:24:56.200 --> 00:24:59.480
And in the end when I finished studying,

00:24:59.680 --> 00:25:02.319
my uncle still had sheep,

00:25:02.519 --> 00:25:03.920
but because they'd told me

00:25:04.039 --> 00:25:06.680
not to go into sheep farming,
he sold them.

00:25:08.640 --> 00:25:12.720
Six months after he'd sold them,
I insisted that I wanted to do it,

00:25:13.160 --> 00:25:16.880
and I had to buy a herd of sheep,

00:25:17.079 --> 00:25:20.319
and when you buy sheep,
they sell you anything but good ones,

00:25:20.960 --> 00:25:22.480
and I started from scratch.

00:25:29.119 --> 00:25:30.079
My mum,

00:25:30.640 --> 00:25:32.920
the problem was the distance,

00:25:33.079 --> 00:25:36.400
she was going to have to come
more often to Pobar.

00:25:39.799 --> 00:25:41.440
She knows what sheep farming is,

00:25:41.640 --> 00:25:46.039
but seeing it was what I liked
and what made me happy,

00:25:46.279 --> 00:25:48.160
what else could she say,

00:25:48.279 --> 00:25:50.480
if that was what I wanted?

00:25:54.880 --> 00:25:58.839
My dad fell ill
and it changed our life a great deal.

00:26:00.160 --> 00:26:03.759
If my dad were here now,
I think he'd be with me

00:26:04.039 --> 00:26:08.799
and he probably
wouldn't have had to come to Soria,

00:26:09.319 --> 00:26:13.759
but anyway, it's for the best,
I mean, that's how it is,

00:26:14.799 --> 00:26:17.440
and things have turned out fine for me.

00:26:24.799 --> 00:26:28.960
So many bad things wouldn't have happened
to me, which I've learned from,

00:26:29.400 --> 00:26:35.319
they're bad at the time
but in the long run, they're good clouts.

00:26:46.559 --> 00:26:50.559
Everyone said,
"It's going to change your life..."

00:26:50.759 --> 00:26:54.079
On the fifth day Manaslu was with me
in the fields as a shepherd.

00:26:56.839 --> 00:26:58.880
Manaslu spent the whole lambing season

00:26:59.039 --> 00:27:02.480
in a hammock on top of a bale of straw
inside the barn,

00:27:02.720 --> 00:27:04.279
and he was fine.

00:27:15.640 --> 00:27:20.400
I want him to adapt to the circumstances
and learn the values of all this

00:27:20.880 --> 00:27:24.640
so he will be responsible, I mean,
we worked for ourselves before,

00:27:24.759 --> 00:27:29.559
but now we do it for him,
to give him everything we can,

00:27:29.680 --> 00:27:31.240
the necessary things.

00:27:48.039 --> 00:27:51.200
Many rural villages need young minds,

00:27:51.359 --> 00:27:53.319
but I think it's difficult,

00:27:53.440 --> 00:27:56.960
because this society
is used to a different way of life,

00:27:57.519 --> 00:28:02.200
you're taught to live differently,
to have everything, and in a village...

00:28:05.519 --> 00:28:09.359
I don't think those things are necessary,

00:28:09.799 --> 00:28:12.480
it's materialism to me,
and I can't live off that.

00:28:14.720 --> 00:28:16.599
Manaslu has been brought up this way

00:28:16.880 --> 00:28:18.640
and he's fine

00:28:19.519 --> 00:28:21.119
but it's the mentality of society,

00:28:21.240 --> 00:28:24.960
nowadays you have to be in a chic place,

00:28:25.200 --> 00:28:26.480
nicely painted,

00:28:27.000 --> 00:28:29.440
with a huge smart TV...

00:28:52.480 --> 00:28:54.279
They call us grant hunters, no way.

00:28:54.559 --> 00:28:57.400
See if they'd survive without grants.

00:29:01.599 --> 00:29:04.839
Receiving payment for the new start-up

00:29:05.039 --> 00:29:06.359
took three years.

00:29:06.759 --> 00:29:09.240
After spending
months and months every morning

00:29:09.359 --> 00:29:11.720
in government offices, what do you think,

00:29:11.839 --> 00:29:15.960
the herd is in the barn, not yet fed
and I've been here four hours.

00:29:34.640 --> 00:29:36.640
If you let Manaslu loose in a city,

00:29:37.519 --> 00:29:39.440
he'd run rings round them all,

00:29:39.559 --> 00:29:42.279
if you let them loose half a mile away,

00:29:42.480 --> 00:29:43.920
they wouldn't know how to get here.

00:29:45.680 --> 00:29:49.400
I can tell you lots of things
about the countryside,

00:29:49.759 --> 00:29:51.960
pastures, herbaceous plants, shrubs,

00:29:52.079 --> 00:29:54.720
trees, birds.

00:29:55.039 --> 00:29:58.799
You often don't have any bread,
and as I say,

00:29:58.920 --> 00:30:01.319
lots of villagers know how to make bread,

00:30:01.759 --> 00:30:04.759
and others, well,
they look it up on Google now.

00:30:05.960 --> 00:30:07.200
If the grandparents are alive,

00:30:07.720 --> 00:30:09.319
I think they'll carry on coming,

00:30:09.480 --> 00:30:10.960
but once they die,

00:30:11.079 --> 00:30:14.160
the ivy and the brambles
will devour many houses,

00:30:14.279 --> 00:30:17.039
I hope not, I really do.

00:30:23.440 --> 00:30:25.839
Those who get it handed down,

00:30:25.960 --> 00:30:28.119
getting the herd from their parents

00:30:29.720 --> 00:30:31.440
or grandparents or whatever,

00:30:31.559 --> 00:30:34.759
that's the easy way
because 90 per cent of the work is done.

00:30:34.960 --> 00:30:37.519
Those people can pull through,

00:30:37.799 --> 00:30:39.799
but those who start from scratch,

00:30:40.519 --> 00:30:42.039
it's a huge investment.

00:30:50.799 --> 00:30:52.480
You have to move to a village.

00:30:53.240 --> 00:30:55.440
It's all well and good

00:30:55.559 --> 00:30:57.960
for city folk to say
they like animals and so on,

00:30:58.079 --> 00:31:01.599
but then they see animal droppings
or go into the barn and it smells,

00:31:10.599 --> 00:31:11.480
At first

00:31:11.599 --> 00:31:15.160
I lived in Magaña for two years,
there were no houses in Pobar to live in

00:31:15.799 --> 00:31:17.799
and Magaña is five miles away from Pobar.

00:31:17.960 --> 00:31:21.599
In winter
I perhaps had to walk there and back

00:31:21.720 --> 00:31:23.359
because the snowplough didn't come.

00:31:23.480 --> 00:31:27.920
I'd get to the barns in Pobar
with my hair frozen,

00:31:28.559 --> 00:31:33.000
I'd look at the sheep, weep and walk back
because I had no fodder for them.

00:31:44.599 --> 00:31:47.359
During the first winter,
and I'm not exaggerating,

00:31:47.599 --> 00:31:51.119
almost one hundred sheep died,

00:31:51.880 --> 00:31:56.200
because they were old,
it's like taking an 85-year-old person

00:31:56.319 --> 00:31:58.400
to the North Pole,

00:31:59.160 --> 00:32:02.319
and feeding them on lettuce all day,

00:32:02.599 --> 00:32:04.240
in the end,

00:32:04.359 --> 00:32:06.440
that person won't cope.

00:32:06.559 --> 00:32:09.359
I had a rough time,
and on my own, of course,

00:32:09.680 --> 00:32:10.519
if I got ill

00:32:10.640 --> 00:32:14.799
or whatever,
I had to let the herd run free.

00:32:33.799 --> 00:32:35.640
Now there are more farms

00:32:35.640 --> 00:32:40.599
belonging to women
and they run them, either on their own

00:32:40.599 --> 00:32:41.720
or with their partner,

00:32:41.720 --> 00:32:43.559
but...

00:32:43.559 --> 00:32:48.400
they still do the housework,
I don't think we've progressed much there.

00:33:17.720 --> 00:33:19.759
I mean, with two kids now,

00:33:20.400 --> 00:33:23.920
I go to the fields,
I gave birth three weeks ago,

00:33:24.200 --> 00:33:27.960
but from day four the baby girl
has been going to the fields too.

00:33:35.640 --> 00:33:37.640
We've always worked more

00:33:37.759 --> 00:33:41.920
and we've always carried
the biggest bales of hay on our back.

00:34:05.680 --> 00:34:06.960
It's a job

00:34:07.200 --> 00:34:10.800
that has evolved in very few aspects.

00:34:11.599 --> 00:34:13.440
I don't know anyone

00:34:13.880 --> 00:34:18.880
with a full-time shepherd
who would do anything for the sheep,

00:34:19.119 --> 00:34:20.360
on a full-time contract.

00:34:20.480 --> 00:34:23.599
There aren't any, you can't find anyone.

00:34:32.880 --> 00:34:34.800
In my mind, grazing is still done,

00:34:35.119 --> 00:34:38.159
I mean, taking the animals out to graze,

00:34:38.400 --> 00:34:42.159
as it was done thirty odd years ago,
as it's always been done.

00:34:43.760 --> 00:34:46.239
I think it should carry on the same way,

00:34:46.920 --> 00:34:48.639
we can't lose all that,

00:34:49.039 --> 00:34:53.719
I think they have it in their genes.
If you cut that gene, goodbye sheep.

00:35:15.119 --> 00:35:17.360
He gets up at about half past seven.

00:35:17.480 --> 00:35:20.039
He gets up and feeds the sheep.

00:35:21.239 --> 00:35:24.840
Then he comes, he has breakfast

00:35:25.239 --> 00:35:27.360
and he goes off again for a while.

00:35:27.559 --> 00:35:30.360
We kind of follow the daylight.

00:35:36.960 --> 00:35:39.719
A shepherd's job is hard,
you work long hours,

00:35:40.519 --> 00:35:42.159
it takes up your time,

00:35:42.559 --> 00:35:46.760
and the more you work with the sheep,
in the end

00:35:46.880 --> 00:35:47.880
you get hooked.

00:35:50.320 --> 00:35:55.440
I remember when I was young,
my grandad had sheep.

00:35:56.239 --> 00:35:58.880
He had 200 sheep
and then on my dad's side,

00:35:59.159 --> 00:36:01.719
we always had sheep at home,

00:36:01.920 --> 00:36:04.840
stock farming has been
a lifelong family tradition.

00:36:11.800 --> 00:36:16.320
Spending ten hours a day in the fields
with the sheep, that has to change,

00:36:16.960 --> 00:36:21.400
or organise things
so that you can have some free time.

00:36:26.880 --> 00:36:29.599
You need to have a better quality of life

00:36:29.719 --> 00:36:31.440
which is what we all aim for.

00:36:42.159 --> 00:36:44.280
The extinction of shepherding is real.

00:36:46.320 --> 00:36:48.679
The main reason
is that mutton isn't producing

00:36:48.960 --> 00:36:52.880
the money it should be producing nowadays.

00:37:17.679 --> 00:37:19.519
We both help one another,

00:37:19.639 --> 00:37:21.159
but I'm at home more.

00:37:26.559 --> 00:37:28.960
I'm quite aware of the job he has,

00:37:29.079 --> 00:37:31.440
it requires many hours of dedication,
but still,

00:37:32.000 --> 00:37:34.679
the family is just the same,
or even more so.

00:37:38.599 --> 00:37:40.280
Because, obviously,

00:37:40.400 --> 00:37:43.519
your children grow up
and you have to be with them,

00:37:43.639 --> 00:37:45.280
you can't leave them to one side.

00:37:53.840 --> 00:37:55.599
There's a rural population drift,

00:37:55.760 --> 00:37:57.960
there are very few people here.

00:37:58.639 --> 00:38:01.360
People don't stay in the village,

00:38:01.559 --> 00:38:03.280
the capital has more services

00:38:03.400 --> 00:38:06.119
and not only services, I think it's more

00:38:06.440 --> 00:38:08.719
when your children move away.

00:38:22.480 --> 00:38:25.159
Parents themselves...

00:38:25.519 --> 00:38:26.840
have encouraged their children

00:38:27.360 --> 00:38:31.280
to go and study and get trained
rather than staying.

00:38:31.480 --> 00:38:35.119
"If you can stay in the city,
don't come back,"

00:38:41.400 --> 00:38:42.920
The rural population drift...

00:38:43.760 --> 00:38:46.119
I think we've got there a bit late.

00:38:46.440 --> 00:38:48.119
Some people are coming back,

00:38:48.400 --> 00:38:49.559
but the population drift

00:38:49.679 --> 00:38:52.559
is an issue
that is hard to tackle these days,

00:38:54.440 --> 00:38:55.519
and it's true

00:38:55.679 --> 00:38:57.559
that within a few years,

00:38:58.039 --> 00:39:01.239
there will be almost deserted villages

00:39:02.079 --> 00:39:03.159
and it's a shame

00:39:03.280 --> 00:39:04.800
because rural environments are fine,

00:39:05.000 --> 00:39:09.440
children can grow up
and gain an academic education

00:39:09.559 --> 00:39:11.079
the same as in a city.

00:39:11.400 --> 00:39:14.119
Everyone is to blame really.

00:39:23.639 --> 00:39:27.800
When you start out,
when you're young you start out very keen,

00:39:27.920 --> 00:39:30.159
you're going to do everything,

00:39:30.519 --> 00:39:33.119
all the work that comes along,
all the jobs,

00:39:33.320 --> 00:39:35.119
then as time goes by

00:39:35.239 --> 00:39:38.559
you realise
that work and money are important

00:39:38.679 --> 00:39:40.400
but there are other things too,

00:39:40.519 --> 00:39:43.679
you need to have time to yourself,

00:39:44.480 --> 00:39:45.960
a social life,

00:39:46.079 --> 00:39:48.480
friends, your children,

00:39:48.760 --> 00:39:52.039
if you don't spend time
with your kids when they're young

00:39:52.159 --> 00:39:54.199
you never will, that time is lost.

00:39:56.960 --> 00:39:58.599
You have your family.

00:40:03.920 --> 00:40:07.000
Linked with our profession is the idea

00:40:07.119 --> 00:40:10.159
of how far you can get with work,
to be able to live,

00:40:10.880 --> 00:40:12.800
but you have to...

00:40:12.960 --> 00:40:15.360
you have to have time
for other things too.

00:40:28.880 --> 00:40:31.960
I think it's important
to raise society's awareness

00:40:32.079 --> 00:40:35.280
because the job that sheep do

00:40:35.920 --> 00:40:37.559
is extraordinary.

00:41:03.960 --> 00:41:07.000
He loves animals,

00:41:07.400 --> 00:41:10.440
he has a gift that others don't have.

00:41:14.719 --> 00:41:18.079
He only went to school
when he had his first communion,

00:41:18.360 --> 00:41:20.840
and later on, when he was 14,

00:41:21.320 --> 00:41:23.159
for a year I think, that's all.

00:41:33.920 --> 00:41:36.000
I had a brother who sheared sheep,

00:41:36.119 --> 00:41:39.119
so he'd come to our house
to shear sheep and stay with us,

00:41:39.239 --> 00:41:40.880
and that was how we met.

00:41:44.199 --> 00:41:46.280
After my military service
we started with the sheep,

00:41:46.400 --> 00:41:50.280
we'd sleep at her house,
at my father-in-law's, he was nice man.

00:41:50.639 --> 00:41:54.159
We'd go out at night
for a coffee and so on, and well...

00:41:54.480 --> 00:41:55.960
close contact breeds affection.

00:41:56.440 --> 00:41:58.159
We courted for a year,

00:41:58.320 --> 00:42:01.719
and we wanted to be together
so it was best to get married.

00:42:02.360 --> 00:42:06.320
Her family wouldn't let us
be alone together one single minute,

00:42:06.440 --> 00:42:07.400
I don't know,

00:42:08.320 --> 00:42:09.880
it was a case of: get married

00:42:10.039 --> 00:42:11.679
and live together.

00:42:33.320 --> 00:42:36.039
No one will take up this profession,

00:42:37.039 --> 00:42:38.760
let alone transhumance.

00:42:46.360 --> 00:42:52.760
Transhumance is walking along slowly
with the animals so that they can feed.

00:42:56.599 --> 00:43:01.119
When the snow comes,
if you're here, you have to buy food,

00:43:01.440 --> 00:43:05.960
so with transhumance,
you move on of course, you spend less.

00:43:14.960 --> 00:43:20.639
It was hard because when you're young,
when you're 18, 19 or 20,

00:43:22.000 --> 00:43:26.280
staying with the sheep down below
when your pals are up here,

00:43:27.079 --> 00:43:28.440
it's hard.

00:43:30.960 --> 00:43:33.960
When I became pregnant with Laura,

00:43:34.519 --> 00:43:36.519
it all seemed so overwhelming,

00:43:36.719 --> 00:43:38.360
I thought, "If I get in a bad way,"

00:43:39.039 --> 00:43:41.119
"who will I call to help me?"

00:43:42.239 --> 00:43:44.280
Joaquín said to me,

00:43:45.280 --> 00:43:47.880
"Go up to the mountain pass
and I'll go up,"

00:43:48.000 --> 00:43:49.760
but I said, "No,"

00:43:50.920 --> 00:43:53.440
"I got married to be with you."

00:43:59.760 --> 00:44:04.559
You have to have that liking, that love
for animals to be with them every day.

00:44:06.239 --> 00:44:09.519
That's why I think
transhumance is disappearing.

00:44:16.920 --> 00:44:21.199
I think sheep need a lot of attention,

00:44:21.559 --> 00:44:23.840
for giving birth

00:44:24.280 --> 00:44:28.880
and illnesses. Sheep are delicate,
they need looking after.

00:44:30.360 --> 00:44:33.480
With no shepherds
and no one looking after them...

00:44:34.280 --> 00:44:35.800
little profit.

00:44:49.280 --> 00:44:50.719
I'm good at cooking,

00:44:51.360 --> 00:44:53.800
I was happy to do it, making dinner.

00:44:53.960 --> 00:44:55.159
It never changed though,

00:44:55.480 --> 00:44:57.440
I'd have potatoes and rice one day,

00:44:57.800 --> 00:44:59.840
and rice and potatoes the next,

00:45:00.039 --> 00:45:02.920
we didn't know how to cook anything else.

00:45:03.280 --> 00:45:06.599
But I found it hard to do the washing

00:45:08.000 --> 00:45:09.719
because going to wash my clothes,

00:45:10.000 --> 00:45:12.079
we felt embarrassed going with the women,

00:45:12.239 --> 00:45:16.239
we'd go to the washing place at night,
all lit up, washing on both sides...

00:45:18.719 --> 00:45:20.679
and my pal would say to me, "Look!"

00:45:20.679 --> 00:45:23.480
"How does my wife do it?"
He was older and married,

00:45:23.679 --> 00:45:25.519
"How does she do it? Look at my shirt!"

00:45:26.159 --> 00:45:27.639
A hole this big.

00:45:27.800 --> 00:45:30.320
The same with his underpants,
good heavens!

00:45:31.400 --> 00:45:32.440
If they were white,

00:45:32.559 --> 00:45:36.519
the white would fade and they'd end up
yellow, it was impossible.

00:45:36.679 --> 00:45:39.840
Soap and more soap
and a couple of scrubs...

00:45:40.079 --> 00:45:40.880
ripped.

00:45:46.559 --> 00:45:48.280
We have adapted.

00:45:49.880 --> 00:45:53.599
Now he takes a sandwich for mid-morning
and lunch and a bottle of water,

00:45:54.119 --> 00:45:56.239
an umbrella and a raincoat,

00:45:56.639 --> 00:45:58.000
and that's it.

00:46:10.199 --> 00:46:12.800
If we want to have lunch together
I have to go with him,

00:46:12.960 --> 00:46:14.360
and I sometimes do,

00:46:15.079 --> 00:46:17.119
the job is the job,

00:46:17.840 --> 00:46:20.679
you have to understand it
and experience it.

00:46:29.199 --> 00:46:30.920
She has often come with me,

00:46:31.119 --> 00:46:32.880
and our daughters too.

00:46:33.239 --> 00:46:37.079
Their entertainment on Sundays
was going with their dad with the sheep.

00:47:06.239 --> 00:47:10.679
You have to retire and change
your way of life, but I wouldn't retire.

00:47:10.880 --> 00:47:12.800
I'd carry on, I'm happy.

00:47:13.320 --> 00:47:15.320
He won't be here forever.

00:47:15.519 --> 00:47:20.760
Don't people who work in banks retire
when they are 55?

00:47:20.880 --> 00:47:23.519
He's 67 now, he's done his share!

00:47:39.000 --> 00:47:42.079
Retiring is like starting a new chapter,

00:47:43.039 --> 00:47:44.239
but it's a bit of a shame.

00:47:45.360 --> 00:47:47.519
It's like you can see the end coming.

00:47:54.880 --> 00:47:55.960
The day I sold them

00:47:56.079 --> 00:47:57.079
I nearly cried.

00:47:57.199 --> 00:47:59.920
I phoned an agent and they were sent

00:48:00.639 --> 00:48:03.639
to La Mancha, a long way off,
I don't see them anymore.

00:48:04.880 --> 00:48:07.840
But it's hard, for sure.
You've reared them

00:48:07.960 --> 00:48:10.480
and it's a radical change.

00:48:10.840 --> 00:48:12.519
I kept these twelve,

00:48:13.760 --> 00:48:15.239
and they felt the same as I did,

00:48:15.360 --> 00:48:19.000
they'd go to the door
to see if they could hear the others,

00:48:19.119 --> 00:48:22.079
they'd look around
and listen out for them.

00:48:22.679 --> 00:48:25.840
It's like being with your family
all your life then being left alone,

00:48:25.960 --> 00:48:27.360
until you come to terms with it.

00:48:27.480 --> 00:48:29.920
I've lost interest in them and everything,

00:48:30.199 --> 00:48:32.199
I'm more interested in eating at home.

00:48:36.719 --> 00:48:38.760
I keep myself occupied
with my grandchildren.

00:48:39.760 --> 00:48:42.719
He'll keep himself occupied, he'll go out

00:48:42.840 --> 00:48:44.679
with the excuse of feeding them.

00:48:44.800 --> 00:48:47.079
He'll come home for lunch,
which he's never done.

00:49:10.760 --> 00:49:13.440
When I looked at my father
when he retired,

00:49:13.559 --> 00:49:16.679
I thought,
"Christ, he's close to death's door now!"

00:49:16.800 --> 00:49:18.079
Now I am.

00:49:18.199 --> 00:49:20.400
If you analyse it,

00:49:20.880 --> 00:49:24.519
it's the end,
you're better off not thinking about it.

00:49:24.920 --> 00:49:26.519
I've enjoyed it,

00:49:26.800 --> 00:49:29.440
I liked doing it and I've been happy.

00:49:29.559 --> 00:49:32.239
Our time is coming to an end,
we've got less time.

00:49:32.480 --> 00:49:35.360
You have to enjoy life if you can!

00:49:35.599 --> 00:49:39.639
An afternoon tea,
lunch out at a restaurant or whatever...

00:49:39.800 --> 00:49:41.920
Whatever will be, will be.

00:49:46.400 --> 00:49:51.039
And something else, hell, enjoy things,

00:49:51.199 --> 00:49:55.559
this is what life is,
life is about enjoying time with family,

00:49:55.679 --> 00:50:00.000
enjoying food, being with friends,
this is what life is.

00:50:04.599 --> 00:50:06.079
I think, in the end,

00:50:06.199 --> 00:50:10.360
the important thing is
to do what you like, what makes you happy,

00:50:10.480 --> 00:50:16.039
but everything has to evolve
and well, we're working on it.

00:50:20.320 --> 00:50:22.400
Work doesn't bring you happiness,

00:50:22.519 --> 00:50:24.760
other things make you happy, right?

00:50:24.880 --> 00:50:28.280
It's just that
the thorn in your side is...

00:50:28.400 --> 00:50:32.719
so many generations,
we work to death and it's not appreciated.

00:50:44.000 --> 00:50:46.639
I think I'm strong psychologically

00:50:46.760 --> 00:50:49.360
because I've never thought
of throwing in the towel.

00:50:49.480 --> 00:50:53.239
I could be really pissed off
with tonnes of snow,

00:50:53.480 --> 00:50:56.039
but I'd carry on and on and on...

00:50:56.360 --> 00:50:58.719
I've got used to living with very little.

00:51:00.719 --> 00:51:02.400
I've started a family,

00:51:02.519 --> 00:51:07.760
we've got a house,
I've gone up in the world, not down.

00:51:24.320 --> 00:51:26.840
When I came here
I know they made bets on me.

00:51:27.960 --> 00:51:31.760
I should ask them now
how much money they had bet

00:51:31.880 --> 00:51:35.960
because they'd have to give it all to me.
No one has come to save my ass.

00:51:36.679 --> 00:51:37.719
No one.

00:51:46.360 --> 00:51:49.599
THE PATH OF THE SHEPHERD