In the Tree of the Year, the beauty, size or age of the applicants does not count, but the history and the relationship with the people. Trees are awarded that are “an integral part of the human community with which they live”, indicate the bases of the contest. Voting opened on Thursday and will remain until November 20 on the arboleuropeo.es website. Yesterday, a day after the voting began, the Drago Milenario occupied the sixth position, with 546 votes, while the Pino Esrengado was in the tenth and penultimate, with 150.
The votes are led by Carballo del Bosque del Banquete de Conxo, in Santiago de Compostela (7,260 votes) and Sabina de Blancas, in the Jiloca Region, Teruel (4,232). Then, in addition to these and the two specimens from Tenerife, the Roble de Los Manaderos (Piedralaves, Ávila, 960 votes), the Encina de Los Perros (Aldea de El Álamo – El Madroño, Seville, 634), the Moral de Las Storms (La Sequera de Haza, Burgos, 595), the Olma of Nuevo Baztan (Nuevo Baztán, Madrid, 477), the Tejo de Arangas (Cabrales, Asturias, 220), the Millennial Holm of Rute (Rute, Córdoba, 219) and El moral de Villovía (Burgos, 79).
The two applicants from Tenerife who made the cut and have reached the final of Spain’s 2022 Tree of the Year started from citizen initiatives. That of the Pino Esrengado de Arico arose from a chicharrero, Héctor Moreno, a lover of nature. «This specimen has always caught my attention, lying down by the wind, like the juniper from El Hierro. In addition, it is in poor condition and is very little known, so I proposed it so that it would have the recognition and popularity it deserves and to promote its conservation “, Moreno explains.
In the highlands of Arico, in the hamlet of El Bueno, “this isolated pine with a strange flag-bearer size survives, a straight-looking tree whose crown grows horizontally towards the west”, points out the reference of the arboleuropeo.es website. “It allows a glimpse of a huge woody arch that branches into a labyrinth of multiple shapes, some circular, to end up kissing the arid cream-colored soil,” adds the reference. This tree represents a native species of the Islands, the Canarian pine, which resists fire.
The other candidate from Tenerife is much better known not only in the Islands, but in the world. It is the Millennial Dragon Tree of Icod, “through which all possible stories have passed due to the fact that for many centuries all kinds of vehicles passed under its branches,” says the website. Still, it still stands. It is a huge specimen of dragon tree declared a National Monument in 1917. It is 700 years old, measures 18 meters high and is one of the most visited spots by tourists on the Island.
It is a very curious specimen of Canarian pine lying down by the force of the wind in the highlands of Arico, in the hamlet of El Bueno. It is in poor condition, surrounded by power lines, and little known. The Arico City Council has promised to improve its environment and treat the specimen to guarantee its survival. Above, general shot of the tree and to the left, a close-up of its branches.
