Uruguayans cross locked-down world to shear Spain's sheep
Issued on: 17/05/2020 - 09:52
Modified: 17/05/2020 - 09:51
Every year, hundreds of Uruguayan sheep shearers travel to Spain for seasonal work CESAR MANSO AFP
Villabraz (Spain) (AFP)
Wearing a mask and a vest-top, Helder Canto grips the sheep firmly as he begins to shear off its heavy coat, his expertise bringing him on a more than 10,000-kilometre journey from Uruguay to the rural heartlands of northwestern Spain.
It's a annual trip he normally makes but this year, things have been upended by the global pandemic, with Canto and some 250 other Uruguayan sheep shearers arriving six weeks later than normal given the difficulties of travelling in a world under lockdown.
Their charter flight landed in Madrid on Wednesday with the team set to work flat out at dozens of farms in Spain until July.
"There aren't enough sheep shearers (in Spain) and it's not like going to pick fruit. If you don't know how to shear, it's not something you can learn in two months," explains Jose Moran, who owns the shearing firm where Helder works every year.
"If they didn't come from Uruguay, we'd lose everything."
They got down to work on the very first day, shearing some 1,300 sheep and another 750 on Friday morning at a small farm in Villabraz, a village of barely 100 residents in the northwestern Leon province.
. . .
Shearing is part of the seasonal cycle of caring for a sheep and is crucial to the animal's health.
If not shorn, they are at risk of overheating and being infected by parasites and disease.
More:
https://www.france24.com/en/20200517-uruguayans-cross-locked-down-world-to-shear-spain-s-sheep
