Transhumant steps.
The history of Ports cannot be understood without the traditional migratory passages that passed between towns, villages and natural areas of the region. How flocks passed through its roads and tracks heading towards distant lands, hundreds of kilometers away, to overcome the winter or, conversely, return to escape the summer. Annual round trips in which the region witnessed one of the most traditional and ancient activities that are remembered, since the shepherds and their transhumances are and continue to be the human and cultural heritage of a society that, despite not being Anchored in the primary sector, it continues to live off of it and take care of the roots of its predecessors. In fact, in Els Ports livestock continues to have a great strategic weight in the daily economy of the population of each town. Whether it is the different meats, milk or fabulous cheeses, but the products derived from animal care remain essential for the daily lives of the inhabitants.
Transhumant steps.
The central position between the mountains of Teruel and the coast of Castellón makes it a mandatory place for sheep or cows that circulate, up and down the mountains, towards their new whereabouts led by shepherds and their guide dogs. Thus, the different ravines existing in places such as La Llàcua, Ares, Castellfort or Vilafranca were and continue to be, although to a lesser extent, animal roads with massive importance for the sector. The transhumant steps are inherent to the identity of the Ports. The immense network of roads that exists between the towns of the region is an innate characteristic of a territory whose pastures have been permanently occupied by herds. Those who, in turn, had to migrate every half year. In Vilafranca, for example, the Llosar route is specified because a section of the road passed right in front of the Hermitage of the Virgen del Llosar, located a few kilometers from the town, which has become an important passage for both herds for its watering holes as for shepherds for its resting places.
Transhumant steps.
This route took the animals down from the Teruel mountain ranges of Gúdar and Maestrazgo to the regions of Baix Maestrat in Castellón or Montsià and Baix Ebre in Tarragona. That is, a journey with dozens of kilometers that in Vilafranca joined two routes: the branches from Sollavientos (Allepuz) and Fortanete. Starting from the Mare de Déu del Llosar, you crossed the Pla de Baix, the Cruz de San Isidro or the Mas de Cabestany, all in the same town of Ports. Then it continued towards the municipality of Ares del Maestrat through the Hostal de la Canà, the Casa del Peiró, the Mas dels Hostals or the Bassa Verda. Next, and before descending towards the Baix Maestrat through Catí, we passed through the Llàcua and the Salvassòria ravine, villages in Morella that have become depopulated over the centuries.
Transhumant steps.
Each town in the Ports region, in its municipal area, is divided by different roads that function as ravines reserved for the passage of herds. Between one town and another, the animals cool off in natural sources such as the Font de Salvassòria or the Font del Llosar, and they eat from the same mountain, functioning as a natural machine that clears fields and mountains and protects them from fires. However, this historic activity is being lost over the years due to the complications that the sector presents, such as insufficient economic reward for the hard work to be done. Consequently, the transhumant movement has declined during the last decades, leaving this traditional activity a testimonial, almost anecdotal fact. At the same time, the increasingly fewer shepherds have also incorporated new gadgets such as sleeping bags, to ensure their health on cold nights in the middle of the mountains.
Transhumant steps.