Malaga to replace trees most at risk of losing branches with other urban species

"The priority is the safety of the people of Malaga. In a few years' time this space will regain its original appearance," councillor Penélope Gómez said.

According to Gómez, what botanists call "falling branch syndrome" (the shedding of branches certain species undergo) is due to heat and drought.

Malaga city recorded 80 tropical nights this summer, more than 50 of them in a row. "This puts the trees under severe water stress, causing some branches to break," Gómez said.

The problem is that during previous inspections, these very same branches appeared green, so there was no indication that they were about to fall.

The ISA's (International Society of Arboriculture) inventory lists the species this condition is most likely to affect. The eucalyptus tops the list. This species has very leafy and heavy branches.

It was precisely a eucalyptus tree that caused the incident in Malaga on 22 August that injured two young women, one of them seriously.

"I have given instructions for those that have already suffered breakages in previous summers to be gradually removed. There is one that has already had 14 branches break off," Gómez said.

The plan is to remove around 40 eucalyptus trees and replace them with trees better suited to urban environments. As for the rest, city council workers will prune them a little more aggressively to reduce their weight and size.

Although the plan mostly concerns eucalyptus trees, it also includes trees of other species that have previously suffered broken branches.

"We've held an emergency meeting with all the contractors and technicians in the department to issue this instruction, because we all know in our districts and on our plots which trees are of greatest concern to us," Gómez stated.

The councillor also guaranteed the replacement of trees. "We're not going to be tree-killers. Any tree that is removed will be immediately replaced by another of a different species, in a natural way."

Out of around 1,000 eucalyptus trees, only 40 will be felled. The rest will simply undergo extensive pruning.

The work will prioritise trees that are "at risk", that is, specimens with branches that could hurt people sitting or resting around or that could fall near a school gate.

There are other cases where branches have fallen, but these are in remote areas of the parks and it is therefore highly unlikely that incidents would involve members of the public.

In such cases, it will not be necessary to take such drastic action. "Our approach is always conservation-oriented," Gómez said.

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