Trees under threat

A city is always in the need of new underground structures or equipment: pipelines, parkings, tunnels… and here they are, just in the way. Trees.

A brand new subway has recently been opened in Málaga. A new line is being planned under the Alameda, a wide avenue shaded by a group of 150-year-old ficus trees. Experts from the engineering office responsible for the design guarantee the trees will not suffer any harm at all; some groups of citizens disagree and fear for the future of this old beauties that give such a strong personality to this place and provide an effective shelter in hot summer afternoons.

Not far from there, the Paseo de España was involved not long ago in a major city plan that would build a trench to lower the lanes and hide them from the surface. Of course this would imply that the double plane tree row would be gone; in that case plans were finally descarded.

Issues like this one arise from time to time and everywhere… the balance between progress and heritage becomes often difficult.