Since ancient times, shepherds and flocks have looked for food moving from north to south within the Peninsula.
Since the thirteenth century, when the Honoured Council of the Mesta was created by King Alfonso X, a network
of cattle tracks was established in order to ensure the transport of Merino sheep and the usage of the pastures.
One of these cattle tracks is La Vizana, which linked the Summer pastures in Babia (province of León) with the
meadows in Trujillo (province of Cáceres).
This track happens to meet with the Vía de la Plata in some sections, although they have to be distinguished. The
Vía de la Plata was a fast, direct communication road between two important Roman cities (Astorga and Mérida);
the cattle track is a path, but it is also food for flocks, because sheep move slowly and must be feeded during the
Thus, the cattle track has to provide food for huge flocks of more than a thousand sheep; that is why the track is
75 metres wide. From the main track, some smaller branches and paths leaded to other regions (37 and 20 metres