Abstract Transhumance is a traditional livestock practice which permits the complementary exploitation of resources between the highlands and lowlands. It is common to all Mediterranean countries, being for physical and human reasons most fully developed in the Iberian Peninsula. The practice evolved a complex and widespread network of livestock routes (canadas) in Spain, which were governed by livestock organisations benefiting from special legislation from the 13th century. Designed to cope with the migratory movements of merino sheep, transhumance helped shape a characteristic landscape which has maintained one of the Mediterranean's most complex and interesting ecosystems. Agricultural intensification, the spread of the railway network, urban expansion and industrialisation have led to a drastic reduction in transhumance practices, itself leading to the alteration of the ecosystems these practices had shaped and to an abandonment of the extensive network of drovers' roads. However, periodic migratory movements still continue, although the conservation of the drovers' roads is vital for the maintenance of such activities. These could be complemented by pedagogical and recreational activities to maintain the system and to offer a new view of natural areas and Spanish rural life.