The Palma City Council's renaturalization plan for Plaça Llorenç Villalonga calls for the replanting of 35 trees. This represents an increase of 10 trees compared to the square's original tree population. These 35 trees will be added to the 6 palm trees already existing in the square, bringing the total to 41 trees, according to the city's proposal. The pruning of the beautiful shade trees in December 2025 sparked a great deal of controversy, mainly due to complaints from neighbors..

Around fifty neighbors – equipped with pots, cheese graters, trumpets and wooden spoons, among other utensils – staged a pot-banging protest against the felling of the beautiful shadows The residents of Plaça Llorenç Villalonga, Palma, have expressed their suspicion that the city council cut down 18 beautiful shade trees due to the "risk of falling," as the council claims. Instead, they suggest there are "economic interests behind it," given the hotel located just a few meters from the square. Edita Navarro, president of the La Calatrava Residents' Association, pointed out that "the Health Department is creating problems for businesses trying to install shade structures under these trees because of the fruit they produce." This raises suspicions among residents who link the tree removal to the intention of building a terrace overlooking Plaça Llorenç Villalonga, "the last major square not dedicated to the terrace business," she emphasized.

Conservation organizations such as Palma XXI and GOB will not attend the meeting of the Municipal Climate Cycle Commission as a gesture of protest against the destruction of the arboreal group of the bellasombras of CalatravaPalma XXI considers this action to be "an unprecedented act of extreme violence" against Palma's natural and urban heritage, and laden with "deeply worrying symbolism, absolutely incompatible" with the democratic, environmental, and cultural values ​​that should guide public action. GOB Mallorca will also not attend the meeting of the Municipal Climate Cycle Commission, thus joining the protest announced by other entities, such as Palma XXI, against the destruction of the Bellaombras de la Calatrava woodland. GOB sources consider this action to be "an extremely serious and absolutely unjustifiable act," from an environmental, heritage, and social perspective. "We are facing a direct attack against Palma's natural and urban heritage, carried out with a violence incompatible with the democratic, environmental, and cultural values ​​that should guide any public action, especially in the context of a declared climate crisis," they explained.

The Spanish Association of Arboriculture (AEA) has questioned the felling of several beautiful shade trees this Thursday by the Palma City Council in Llorenç Villalonga Square, citing technical safety reasons. The organization has demanded greater technical and scientific rigor from the council regarding the removal of trees considered part of the Balearic capital's heritage.

The City Council cut down the 18 beautiful shade trees in Llorenç Villalonga Square this Thursday morning. Despite the complaints, demonstrations and administrative appeals From the neighbors and entities, Cort, which on Tuesday received judicial authorization from the Administrative Court number 4 of Palma, has decided to cut them down.

The residents of Catalatrava, organized in a citizens' platform against the felling of the 18 bellasombra trees in Plaça de Llorenç Villalonga, have again demanded that Palma City Council grant them access to the complete file justifying the action, as well as time to analyze it and the opportunity to submit independent technical reports. They assert that, at present, neither the residents nor external experts have been able to examine the documentation or assess whether alternatives to the felling have been considered. According to their complaint, the City Council has merely stated that "municipal reports exist" warning of a safety risk, but without providing their content. "When an action is irreversible, affects mature urban trees, and generates significant public outcry, transparency is not a courtesy, it is an obligation," they maintain. The recent court ruling that upholds the felling—which the platform has already announced it will appeal—is based exclusively on the reports provided by the City Council itself. The court does not assess whether these studies are comprehensive, whether they meet European standards, or whether alternative measures exist. "It is accepted that there is a risk, but in tree management, risk is not an absolute concept," they explain, and they point out that it depends on the probability, the target, and the mitigation measures. One of the city's arguments for ruling out intermediate solutions was the removal of perimeter fences that had been previously installed. The platform, however, maintains that this installation was done in a "clearly deficient" manner, without anchoring or professional safety criteria. "The fact that a fence can be manipulated does not invalidate the measure, just as a road is not removed so that someone can run a red light," they add. They also reject the argument that the square cannot be closed to guarantee access for emergency vehicles. According to them, differentiated management formulas for uses and access have been proposed that would allow pedestrian safety to be compatible with the operation of essential services. "These solutions exist and they work, but they haven't been studied," they complain. Regarding spaces for participation, the platform believes that the Palma Verde Roundtable cannot replace a genuine dialogue process if documentation is not provided and technical challenges are not allowed. "Dialogue is not communicating a decision that has already been made," they emphasize. The residents insist that they are not disputing the municipality's responsibility to guarantee safety, but rather the decision to directly opt for "the most extreme measure" without exhausting alternatives or allowing for an independent evaluation. "The beautiful shade structures are not replaceable street furniture: they are mature green infrastructure and climate heritage," they conclude.

The Administrative Court No. 4 of Palma has lifted the precautionary measure adopted on December 11th at the request of an organization regarding the replacement of 18 beautiful shade trees in Llorenç Villalonga Square due to the risk of them falling. The Court acknowledges the municipality's responsibility to guarantee public safety, taking into account the technical reports from the municipal Parks and Gardens department, which conclude that all the affected trees are in poor condition, with no future prospects, and with various pathologies that entail a high risk of fracture.

Around a hundred residents halted the municipal tree felling work on Thursday at 18 beautifulshadows of the Llorenç Villalonga square in Palma, which the City Council intends to remove because the trees, between 60 and 80 years old, are diseased and pose a danger to the safety of pedestrians and children.