The park doesn’t even have a name. The space, with a children’s play area in the center, is delimited by Espronceda, València and Biscaia streets, in the Clot neighborhood. On Monday at four in the afternoon, one of its trees, a robinia, what is popularly known as false acacia, broke and fell, shredding the perimeter of that children’s space. The fall did not hurt anyone, but it further fueled neighborhood unrest. This is the fourth accident related to trees that has occurred in Barcelona in less than two weeks. And on top of that this summer a palm tree broke in half and killed a young woman in the Raval neighborhood.
Parcs i Jardins technicians have already carried out the corresponding inspection. Municipal sources detail that this robinia was precipitated by a fungus, and that it did not present external signs that indicated its illness. Fortunately, the rest of the trees in the area are not affected by this fungus. The City Council tries to send a reassuring message. He assures that this year as many trees and branches are falling as the previous one. Furthermore, municipal sources emphasize, the causes of these accidents are varied: fungi, works in public spaces, intense rains… “This year we have had 155 fallen trees. Of them, 93 fell in storms. And most of the rest due to external causes, such as being hit by vehicles or cutting roots due to construction work.” In all of 2022, 203 trees fell: 129, due to storms, and 74, due to other causes.
In any case, the City Council is no stranger to growing neighborhood unrest. Climate change and drought raise many doubts. The City Council has been in contact for weeks with arboriculture experts and technicians from other municipalities in order to exchange information. “The fall of trees is common in many cities, but Barcelona has the strictest tree risk plan in Spain. All trees are checked at least every two years. Each tree has its file, where its reviews, pruning, treatments are recorded…
In the unnamed park, on Monday afternoon, there were only a dozen members of the Sant Joan de Malta petanque club. This corner, an oasis in a degraded and neglected space, is usually closed on Mondays. But last time it was a holiday, for Mercè, and the members of the entity stayed to eat. “We saw the tree fall,” said Leopoldo Villagra, the secretary. Everyone ran to the park to check that the tree had not fallen on anyone and alerted 112, which soon sent the Urban Police and the Firefighters, who chopped up the trunk of the old tree.
The petanque members and the few neighbors who walk their dogs in the park these days were not surprised by the accident. “This was one of the old ones, but many were already cut down and others also fell, but at a time when breaking trees was not news.” The falling top of the tree broke one of the fences of the children’s space, which yesterday remained closed to the public. On the steps under the Espronceda bridge, a young man takes a dose of heroin at one in the afternoon, without caring about the comments of an older couple who denounces the abandonment of the space.
The unnamed park shows symptoms of abandonment and little affection, despite the three municipal officials who came in the afternoon to photograph the damage to decide that the children’s area should continue to be sealed. “If that tree fell at noon, recess time for the two schools next door, or in the afternoon, the tragedy would have been terrible,” warned another member of the petanque club.
