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The banana trees around the Pedralbes monastery in Barcelona have a very peculiar appearance these days, because “their bark stripping” is taking place.
As can be seen in this report in Las Fotos de los Lectores de La Vanguardia, these trees so characteristic of Barcelona are showing all the beauty of the shapes and tones of the varied colors of their bark at the time of peeling. A party of photosynthesis! Spectacular!
Photosynthesis or chlorophyll function is a chemical process that consists of the conversion of inorganic matter to organic matter thanks to the energy provided by sunlight.
At the beginning of the century, there were close to 60,000 plane trees, almost 40% of the total number of trees in the city, a percentage that has decreased to close to half because there is an increasing variety of trees in Barcelona.
But, the banana continues to be one of the symbols of the Catalan capital. And this early summer more than one is surprised to see how they are shedding their bark, but they are not sick at all, quite the contrary, they are renewing themselves.
Where they most attract attention is on the Rambla. The shade plane is one of the most used trees in the urban environment in southern Europe, due to its adaptation to the adverse conditions of the city: pollution, pruning, poor substrates, among other advantages, according to the City Council.
Since 1548, and according to the municipal archives, the plane trees of the Rambla have been replanted 11 times. Of the specimens that currently exist, some were planted between 1870 and 1879. When they shed their courtship in this spectacular way, they are still very much alive.
However, the Barcelona City Council wants to reduce the presence of bananas to 15% of the total number of trees in the city in 2027. In fact, it has set this limit for all species to avoid the effects in the event of a plague.
