Puerto de la Cruz has 476 monumental trees and unique flora spread across its scarce 8.73 square kilometers of surface. A green heritage that for the first time has been x-rayed and included in the Special Plan of the Historic Center, a document initially approved by the Plenary Session of the local Corporation, pending to be published in the Official Gazette of the Canary Islands (BOC) so that it can be exhibited to public information and for citizens to present allegations in order to introduce improvements to the document.
Increasingly, parks, gardens and green areas are taking on greater prominence and importance in cities and are taken into account in their design and protection. In its commitment to a sustainable city model, the municipal government of Puerto de la Cruz has wanted to regulate this type of plant assets and protect them just like the rest, and for this a prior study of identification, analysis and management of the different species. Furthermore, article 38.2 of the Canary Islands Cultural Heritage Law (LPCC) requires the inclusion in the protection catalog of ‘plant species of significant size or other significant structures’.
In this way, the document heritageizes the natural spaces present in the Historical Complex of the municipality to the extent that they are part of the urban landscape and evolution of the city.
Thus, 15 different species have been identified: common cypress, ombú, araucaria, ñamera, eucalyptus, dragon tree, cardón, Indian laurel, banana tree, rubber tree, Canarian palm, whasingtonia palm, golden pine, black casuarina and Canary pine.
Each of them has a specific file in the document detailing the scientific name, the family to which it belongs, the origin, the number of specimens, the approximate height, the diameter of the crown, the perimeter of the trunk and its location, accompanied by photographs and maps. Likewise, in the analysis of the pathologies, risks and measures to be adopted, environmental criteria have been adopted.
In accordance with the provisions of the aforementioned regulations, natural heritage assets are part of the PEPCH Catalog, which include trees and unique species that are considered monumental or of great interest.
The criteria for considering them as such respond to those ancient specimens or those of extraordinary age, taking into account that in the urban environment there are many factors that condition the development of plant species and hinder their longevity.
The size or monumentality is also taken into account, whether of the entire individual or some of its parts, especially with regard to height, trunk perimeter or diameter of the crown, if it is a species endemic to the Canary Islands and /or from the Macaronesian region, or despite being introduced, present a high ornamental interest; be a symbol or emblem of space, associated with collective memory; its historical, cultural, political, traditional or educational interest.
Finally, it is considered whether the specific species or specimen is related to some significant fact for a group or citizens as a whole, is linked to traditions, is characteristic of a specific era that is related to the history of the city, or that its connection to a specific geographical space is so deep-rooted that it would be difficult to understand that place without the presence of these species.
This is the case, for example, of the trees in Plaza del Charco, many of them centuries old, “which make up an authentic urban forest that does not even seem to be in the center of the municipality,” declares the councilor for the Sustainable City and Urban Agenda. , David Hernandez.
In addition to these monumental trees, the PEPCH x-rays the urban and natural spaces, as they are considered essential for economic, social and cultural development and at the same time, having witnessed the great social events of the municipality.
In this sense, the first places used and reorganized for recreational use are the squares, among which the Plaza de la Iglesia, the Plaza del Charco, the Benito Pérez Galdós and the Víctor Pérez squares stand out, among others.
Urban spaces include avenues and so-called historic gardens, defined in the document “as those spaces where the natural component is one of the primary tools and related to areas of great social and economic importance for society.”
Thus, the arrival of tourism and citizens from different parts of Europe to Puerto de la Cruz attracted the need to create landscaped spaces and passageways that would improve the quality of the landscape. Currently, Sitio Liter and Taoro stand out, “which is, was and will be the green area of reference of the municipality,” highlights David Hernández.
The mayor highlights four aspects of the document: the organization and cataloging of the entire San Telmo space, where work is being done with the Ecoáreas Mardetodos project for the sustainability of the coast; the trees of the Plaza del Charco; all the ñameras in the squares for the symbolic and community value they have, and the Risco Bello gardens. A green legacy that Puerto de la Cruz is increasingly committed to protecting and conserving.
