The Málaga City Council has launched an emergency plan to inspect urban trees, following four branch detachments in eight days. The first phase focuses on over 400 eucalyptus trees in sensitive areas.
The Málaga City Council has activated an urgent plan to review the urban tree population, consisting of 112,000 specimens, after four large branch falls occurred in different parts of the city in just one week, according to Diario Sur. The measure includes enhanced monitoring and control, with special attention to trees that may pose a greater risk due to their size, shape, or location.
The latest incident occurred on Sunday night in the La Paz neighbourhood, where a large ficus split in half at the junction of calle Realenga de San Luis and camino de los Guindos, near the Oeste park. The branches fell onto a busy pedestrian area, fortunately causing no personal injuries. Firefighters cordoned off the area, and on Monday, Parks and Gardens workers cut the branches and supported the tree.
The most serious incident took place on August 22 in Miraflores de los Ángeles, when a branch from an eucalyptus tree injured two young women sitting on a bench. One of them remains critically hospitalised and has undergone several surgeries. The parents of both have announced they will initiate proceedings to claim compensation from the City Council.
The Environmental Sustainability Department has insisted that both the eucalyptus in Miraflores and the ficus in La Paz showed no apparent signs of rot, cavities, or other visible structural defects that would have predicted their failure. The ficus, in fact, was inspected in June and was not classified as a risk tree.
The plan includes an initial phase focused on eucalyptus trees, following a screening of the 1,112 specimens registered. A new review will be conducted on more than 400 located in school environments, gathering areas, playgrounds, pedestrian spaces, or areas of high foot traffic. According to the municipal government team, they will reduce the canopy of those that present a risk and, in the most severe cases, remove and replace them with a more suitable species, as part of planting campaigns that have allowed for the placement of 9,684 specimens in the last seven years.
As a result of a black locust falling last Friday in the park at plaza Alfonso XII, next to the Victoria sanctuary, the City Council is executing the felling of a specimen of this same species and reducing the canopy of another on Monday. The park remains closed as a precaution until the work is completed.
The plan has already been communicated to the companies contracted for the maintenance of green spaces in different areas of the city. Residents of La Paz, such as Juan Antonio Hidalgo, have expressed their concern: "It’s an area where people always pass by or where children play. It’s a miracle that no tragedy has occurred," he stated to Diario Sur.
You may also like
