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Drove roads

Can you ride an adventure bike on a drove road (vía pecuaria)? Cañada, cordel, vereda and colada

Last reviewed: November 9, 2026

Not like just another dirt track. Drove roads (vías pecuarias) are the traditional livestock routes and public domain land of the regions. However wide and unpaved a cañada is, national law only lets a non-farm motor vehicle use it as an exception, for a specific purpose and with the region's permit (Law 3/1995, art. 16.1).

Acronyms and names

Vía pecuaria (VP)
Drove road: a route along which livestock travels or has traditionally travelled. Public domain land of the region.
Law 3/1995, arts. 1 and 2
Cañada
The widest: up to 75 m. The great transhumance routes are «cañadas reales».
Law 3/1995, art. 4.1.a
Cordel
Up to 37.5 m wide.
Law 3/1995, art. 4.1.b
Vereda
Up to 20 m wide.
Law 3/1995, art. 4.1.c
Colada
Its width is not set by the law but by each route's classification.
Law 3/1995, art. 4.3
Descansadero, abrevadero, majada
Resting places, watering points and folds linked to livestock movement. Their area is set by the classification.
Law 3/1995, art. 4.3
Cabañera, azagador, galiana, ramal, traviesa…
Traditional local names: they are drove roads all the same.
Law 3/1995, art. 4.2

What a drove road is

Spain's Law 3/1995 on Drove Roads defines them as the routes along which livestock travels or has traditionally travelled (art. 1.2). They are public domain land of the regions: they cannot be sold, cannot be acquired by years of use and cannot be seized (art. 2).

Besides livestock, they can have other compatible and complementary uses, always giving priority to livestock and rural uses (art. 1.3). That is why many are now used on foot, by bicycle or on horseback.

How wide each one is

The law sets maximum widths, not minimum ones: a cañada does not exceed 75 m, a cordel 37.5 m and a vereda 20 m (art. 4.1). The width of a colada is set by the classification of each route (art. 4.3). The figures come from traditional Castilian measures: 90 varas for the cañada (about 75 m), 45 for the cordel and 25 for the vereda.

On the ground, what you see rarely measures that: many drove roads have narrowed over the years and carry a dirt track or a road inside. The legal width is that of the public land, not of the track.

Motor vehicles: what national law says

Farm vehicles and machinery can use drove roads, always giving way to livestock (art. 16.1).

For a non-farm motor vehicle, such as an adventure bike, the region can only authorise it as an exception and for a specific, concrete purpose. Never while livestock is passing, and never on drove roads of ecological and cultural interest (art. 16.1).

The complementary uses the law lists, such as strolling, walking or horse riding, are without motor vehicles (art. 17.1). Riding a cañada because it is wide and unpaved is none of them.

What it means on an adventure bike

  • A drove road is not a dirt track, even if it looks like one: without the region's permit, it is not your way.
  • The permit is exceptional and for a specific purpose: there is no general permit to go riding on them.
  • In the Valencian Community, if riding is part of a service activity, the permit is replaced by a responsible declaration (Law 3/2014, art. 30.2).
  • Each region develops the law with its own. In Aragón, Law 10/2005 bans riding them on a motorbike for sport or competition (art. 39.c) and leaves everything else to an exceptional permit, always giving way to livestock (art. 35).

How to recognise a drove road

  • Boundary stones or posts marked «VP», «Cañada Real» or the route's name, and regional signs.
  • Names on the map: cañada, cordel, vereda, colada, cabañera, azagador…
  • A wide, straight corridor between fields with the track running inside it.
  • The drove-road map viewer of the region or of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition, which show the classified routes they have digitised.

What changes from region to region

The state law is the base, but each region has its own act or regulation. In the ones we have reviewed:

  • Andalusia: only with an exceptional permit, never when livestock is passing (Decree 155/1998, art. 55.4), and from 1 June to 15 October, banned in every forest (Order of 21 May 2009, art. 5.1).
  • Aragon: sport or competitive motorcycle use is banned (Act 10/2005, art. 39.c); for other uses, an exceptional permit (art. 35.2).
  • Asturias: no act of its own; the state one applies (Act 3/1995, art. 16.1).
  • Canary Islands: there are no drove roads.
  • Cantabria: no act of its own; the state one applies (Act 3/1995, art. 16.1).
  • Castilla-La Mancha: only with an exceptional permit (Act 9/2003, art. 29.2), and banned on those crossing public forests or protected areas (Decree 63/2006, art. 8.2.k).
  • Castile and León: no act of its own; the state one applies (Act 3/1995, art. 16.1).
  • Catalonia: riding on livestock routes is banned (Act 9/1995, art. 7).
  • Community of Madrid: motorcycles banned except in the cases in the act, and always at 20 km/h at most (Act 8/1998, arts. 42 and 43.f).
  • Valencian Community: only with an exceptional permit for a specific use (Act 3/2014, art. 30.1).
  • Extremadura: an exceptional permit for one route and one date, at 30 km/h at most and notifying SEPRONA 10 days ahead (Act 6/2015, art. 224.2; Decree 65/2022).
  • Galicia: no act of its own; the state one applies (Act 3/1995, art. 16.1).
  • Balearic Islands: no known network; if one were classified, the state act would apply (Act 3/1995, art. 16.1).
  • La Rioja: it has its own decree (Decree 3/1998); the state act requires an exceptional permit (Act 3/1995, art. 16.1).
  • Navarre: only with an exceptional permit, never when livestock is passing (Foral Act 19/1997, art. 15.1), and Foral Decree 36/1994 bans riding on drove roads (art. 11.2).
  • Basque Country: no act of its own; the state one applies (Act 3/1995, art. 16.1).
  • Region of Murcia: no act of its own; the state one applies (Act 3/1995, art. 16.1).

Real examples

Campo de Belchite (Zaragoza): the Cañada Real de las Moreras

There are many drove roads around Belchite. The Cañada Real de las Moreras passes about 400 m from the village, and inside the steppe SPA there are the Cordel de Belchite a Torrecilla de Valmadrid, several veredas and the Colada de la Naranjeta.

In Aragón, a drove road is not ridden on a motorbike for sport (Law 10/2005, art. 39.c), and other journeys need an exceptional permit (art. 35). For a ride on the dirt tracks of the area, the drove roads are left out.

Source: Aragón Law 10/2005 on Drove Roads, arts. 35 and 39 (BOE, consolidated text) · Checked on November 3, 2026

Rules in Aragón

When several designations overlap

They add up. A natural park can be an SAC and an SPA at the same time, contain public forests and be crossed by a cañada: the rules of all of them apply at once, and if one of them closes the track, it does not matter that the others say nothing.

The other designations

How Corally applies it

  • The map's «Areas with their own rules» layer draws drove roads as a dashed line.
  • Your plan's badge warns you when the route runs along a drove road: «2.3 km along the Cañada Real… (a drove road), with its own rules for motor vehicles». If it only crosses it, it does not.
  • The data is public and not every drove road is in it: in some areas the network has not been digitised. A boundary stone or a sign on the ground takes precedence.

Plan a route on dirt tracks What Corally tells you on your plan: areas with their own rules

Frequently asked questions

How wide is a cañada, a cordel or a vereda?
At most, 75 m for a cañada, 37.5 m for a cordel and 20 m for a vereda (Law 3/1995, art. 4.1). A colada is as wide as its classification says (art. 4.3). These are maximum widths of the public land, not of the track you see.
Isn't a wide, unpaved cañada just a dirt track?
No. It is public livestock land with its own law, even if a track runs inside it. Riding it on a non-farm motor vehicle needs an exceptional permit from the region (art. 16.1).
Can I cross a drove road on my bike?
Crossing it on a road or track that cuts across is normal: what the law limits is riding along it. If there is a sign or a barrier at the crossing, the sign takes precedence.
Can I apply for a permit?
From the region, but it is exceptional and for a specific purpose, and it is never granted while livestock is passing or on drove roads of ecological and cultural interest (art. 16.1). Ask your region's drove-road service which uses it authorises.
How do I know if a track is a drove road?
From the boundary stones, the signs and the name (cañada, cordel, vereda, colada…), and on your region's map viewer. In Corally, turn on the «Areas with their own rules» layer: the drove roads we have show up on the map.
What if I see tyre tracks from other bikes?
They change nothing: others riding there is not a permit. If it is a drove road, it still is.

Sources (with the article)

A practical guide written by Corally from the laws cited. It is not legal advice. The areas come from public data that can lag behind what is on the ground, and a barrier, a sign or a wildfire closure always takes precedence over this page.

Rules across Spain, region by region