Environmental groups have organised a demonstration in Santa Cruz de Tenerife in response to the City Council’s decision to fell 25 mature trees situated in the iconic Rambla. Specifically, the trees in question are 25 laurel trees of the Indies, positioned from the Tulipán building at number 147 to the Marine Command.
According to these organisations, there are 48 laurels in that area and “only four of them are dead and irretrievable.” They further explain that “the rest have new shoots and display branches and foliage.” Hence, they assert that “additional measures” are required, such as sanitation through pruning dead branches, treatment, fertiliser, substrate replacement, widening of the tree pits, and the installation of a comprehensive irrigation system that reaches the roots.
These organisations recall that in 2021, the La Arboleda neighbourhood association submitted a thorough report, along with technical recommendations and photographs of the laurels of Santa Cruz, to the City Council under the leadership of José Manuel Bermúdez (Canarian Coalition). However, they indicate that “none of these recommendations were implemented.” They also highlight that the issue regarding the laurels of the Rambla has repeatedly been addressed in council meetings and covered in the media prior to this date. Despite this, “the City Council has not taken any corrective actions and has merely allowed them to decline to their current condition.”
Consequently, following the announcement of the impending logging, these two organisations have formally requested that the Council halt these actions and commission an independent assessment to evaluate alternative methods for preserving as many laurels as possible, “which form part of the plant heritage of the citizens.”
Furthermore, they have demanded technical assessments that justify a decision as drastic as logging; as well as reports on previous maintenance actions, irrigation, pruning, fertilisation, and treatments administered to these laurels to prevent their removal.
The protesting organisations believe that the City Council’s claims of the laurels being “diseased” and “unsafe” do not warrant widespread tree felling, as there are alternative methods for their preservation. “Sick trees can be treated, sanitised, and supported,” they emphasise.
The protest is scheduled for this Saturday, May 17, at 11:00, outside the Tulipán building at number 147 on La Rambla.
