Malaga Urban Safety: risk of falling trees threatens school children

The strong winds in Malaga on Wednesday uprooted two large ficus trees, one of which fell on the facade of a primary school and triggered parental concerns.

In fact, the parents of CEIP Eduardo Ocón students have been calling for effective municipal solutions to protect their children for some time now.

The school is located in the Huelin district. Fortunately, no children were injured on this occasion, but parents say that it's a matter of luck. "It's very distressing. You can't stop thinking about what could have happened," Soledad Bautista, whose two children study at the school, said.

These feelings of unease and anxiety are not new among the parents. The parents' association (Ampa) of Eduardo Ocón has sent several complaints to Malaga city council, warning of the poor state of the trees surrounding the school.

The school management is aware of the risk, which also concerns the poor state of some of the ficus trees within the premises of the school.

President of Eduardo Ocón's Ampa Ana Soriano said: "We have asked many times for the parks and gardens department to check the trees. They tell us that they are in good condition. Are we waiting for a disaster to happen?"

Among the solutions Ampa proposes is to shore up the trees that are in better condition and replace the ficus trees that are at greater risk of falling with other species.

María Jesús Estévez is another mother that shared her worries with SUR. Like Bautista, she also has two children in the school. Every day, they pass through the gate over which one of the trees collapsed on Wednesday.

 "This is not the last storm we'll have. We parents are very scared and we want a solution now," she said. "In our opinion, the trees are not in good condition, no matter how much the city council says they are," she stated.

Professor of Botany at Malaga University Enrique Salvo Tierra provided an explanation as to why these trees in Huelin are so weak. "There are no deep roots, as people think," he said.

Salvo Tierra said the soil in Malaga city is compacted with gravel, concrete and mortar so that the ground wouldn't sink, which makes it difficult for the tree to "expand its roots".

The city council told SUR that the condition of the trees is "consistently checked and monitored" and that the specimens "are in good condition". "Even so, following the fall of two trees after the last episodes of rain and strong winds, two measures have been taken.

On the one hand, work is already under way to reduce the crown of all the trees around the school. On the other hand, we will study the stability of each tree to assess whether they can be maintained with this reduction in the crown or they should be removed and replaced with new ones," the city council stated.