OLD WAYS NEW
82 | May• 2019
T’S LATE JUNE AND IN
the rocky, sun-scorched
hills north of Granada,
Spain, a young woman
tends a flock of 170 shiny
black goats as they graze
on tufts of yellowing
grass. Julia Abalos Reznk,
23, tall and lanky with
short-cropped hair, looks as if she’s
been caring for these animals since
she could walk. Yet just four months
ago Julia was living in bustling
Madrid and studying translation.
As the goats begin to wander too
far, Julia takes the handwoven sling
that dangles over her shoulder and
folds it in half, inserting a stone into
the middle section. She swings it in
a looping circle, releasing one end
at just the right moment so that the
stone goes flying, sailing a hundred
metres in a wide arc over the herd
and clattering down on the other
side. The noise startles the goats and
they f lock away from it – and back
towards Julia.
Watching her is 62-year-old
Juan Antonio Jiménez Almagro, a
weather-worn shepherd with a gen-
tle smile who has been roaming
these lands for decades. Herding
animals with sling-thrown stones
is an ancient shepherding method,
and something that Juan is proud
to have taught Julia. It’s just one of a
multitude of skills that Julia is learn-
ing here at an Andalusian shepherd
school in the south of Spain.
That young people are taking an
interest in tending animals is of crit-
ical importance to those running
the school. Without the small-scale
shepherding of free-ranging animals,
the lands of Europe would change
dramatically. The effects of climate
change would accelerate. Whole
breeds of animals, both domestic and
wild, could go extinct.EVERY MARCHfor the past eight
years, 15 to 20 eager students begin
classes at the Shepherd School of
Andalucia. They’ll spend ten weeks
in the classroom, learning about
everything from veterinary science
to pig farming to accounting.
The first five weeks are held in an
agricultural research centre near Gra-
nada, while the second five take place
in a different location every year. This
year it is in the Cazalla de la Sierra,
an hour north of Seville. During the
course, students also complete three
placements in the field, where they are
instructed one-on-one by experienced
shepherd tutors.
Tuition, meals and dorm accom-
modation are all provided free of
charge; the programme is part of an
European Union (EU) initiative that
funds similar courses in France.
The majority of the students are
sons and daughters of rural small-
holdings, but there are those like
Julia who are leaving the city behind
to pursue the solitary profession of
shepherding. Anyone can apply, but PHOTOS: DAVID BIASI