Palma City Council will report the disappearance of the fences surrounding the trees to the Public Prosecutor's Office

PalmThe Palma City Council condemned the removal of some of the barriers installed in Llorenç Villalonga Square last Friday due to the alleged risk of trees falling, and announced that it will report the incident to the court and the Public Prosecutor's Office, considering that public safety has been compromised. "The restricted area is a space where municipal technical reports warn of the risk posed by the existing trees, which has allowed people to move freely under specimens with structural defects," the City Council stated. They also pointed out that the removal of the barriers has caused material damage, with elements displaced and left on the ground, hindering the work of municipal services. Sources at the City Hall emphasized that this type of action cannot be considered a legitimate form of protest because it poses a risk to the public. As Cort explained, all the planned work in the square is based exclusively on technical criteria and risk prevention, following a review of the 18 existing shade trees, which, according to the technicians, present the same structural problems as other trees in the area that have already broken.

Dialogue Table

Meanwhile, residents of the Calatrava neighborhood are asking Palma City Council to establish a dialogue forum to avoid haphazard tree removal in public spaces and to make decisions in coordination with residents. This decision was reached on Sunday by residents gathered in a meeting in the very square where the trees are located. The meeting, attended by about fifty people, provided an update on the latest actions taken to prevent the felling of the beautiful shade trees and also served to coordinate future actions.

The neighborhood association explained that the contentious-administrative appeal filed by the Friends of the Earth association, requesting urgent precautionary measures to temporarily halt the tree felling, must be resolved this Monday in order to have time to analyze and refute, if necessary, the reports held by the City Council and the association.

However, the residents have agreed to temporarily dismiss the possibility of legal action and have formally submitted a proposal to create a dialogue forum to coordinate the technical and participatory work. The initiative has been addressed to the Mayor of Palma and the councilors for Infrastructure, Accessibility and Industrial Parks, the Environment, and Citizen Participation.

"We propose the creation of a forum made up of political representatives, neighborhood representatives, and municipal and independent technicians, with the aim of jointly, transparently, and rigorously analyzing the situation of the affected trees, the existing risks, management alternatives, and possible solutions, always prioritizing safety," the residents explain. "We are committed to dialogue and consensus as a way to find a solution that does not involve the elimination of the beautiful shade," they add.

For all these reasons, the association has invited other entities "committed to the future of the city" to join this proposal for dialogue and the creation of a civic platform for dialogue with the City Council in order to find a consensus-based solution that guarantees the continued existence of the trees in Llorenç Villalonga Square.