An old shepherding trade revived in Spain with help from Muslim and African migrants, assalamu alaikum
Assalamu alaikum - In the dry plains of Castile‑La Mancha, a centuries‑old way of life is getting a new lease on life thanks to migrants who want to work. In the village of Los Cortijos, 25‑year‑old Osam Abdulmumen, a migrant from Sudan, watches over a flock of about 400 sheep from dawn to dusk. The village of 850 people is carrying on a shepherding tradition that many local young people no longer choose, and a regional program is training newcomers - many from African countries and other places - to fill those jobs.
Osam says he left Sudan because of violence and hopes to help his family back home, inshaAllah, by sending money and one day buying a house. He lives in a simple one‑bedroom flat in town, studies Spanish, prays Fajr before his long workdays begin, and often plays football on weekends with visitors from a nearby city. He earns roughly 1,300 euros a month, a little above the minimum wage, and can send modest support home when possible.
Álvaro Esteban, whose family has run the farm for generations, returned from years away and now works with his father and new hires like Osam. He and the team use modern tools like drones alongside traditional skills and make cheese that supplies local markets and restaurants. Esteban worries, like many farmers, that without migrant workers these rural businesses - already hit hard by depopulation - may not survive another decade.
Training for shepherding takes place near Toledo, where short courses teach basics like herding, handling sheep, and milking. The program is aimed at recent arrivals, many of whom speak limited Spanish but are eager to learn. Since 2022, around 460 students have gone through the course, and dozens have found work as shepherds, at slaughterhouses, or on olive and fruit farms. Organizations help connect asylum‑seekers and migrants with the training and jobs.
Journeys to Spain are often long and difficult. Osam travelled through several countries before applying for asylum and reaching mainland Spain. He keeps in touch with his family when he can, but calls are infrequent because of poor service in their village. Still, he says he prefers the calm of small‑town life and the steady, honest work of tending sheep.
For many rural businesses in central Spain, help from migrants is already making a difference, preserving a neglected but ancient trade and giving hardworking newcomers a way to rebuild their lives - may Allah make it easy for them.
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