Benidorm prunes the iconic ficus tree on Plaza de la Hispanidad to ensure safety in the event of possible water stress

Benidorm City Council, through the Department of Parks and Gardens, has undertaken the pruning of one of the most iconic tree specimens in the city to avoid possible episodes of branch or trunk breakage due to water stress. This is the ficus located on Plaza de la Hispanidad, perhaps the most emblematic of Benidorm, which has been pruned to lighten the weight of the tree, clean the branches and thus be able to better use the water and nutrients from the subsoil, a circumstance that becomes more complicated in times of lack of rain.

The Councillor for Parks and Gardens, José Ramón González de Zárate, has explained that “in general there is a significant problem of lack of water in many areas of the country. This is transferred to the trees on public roads that do not have drip irrigation and that are fed by rainwater to maintain themselves.” The current situation may lead to water stress causing some trees to fall, “and not only because of the lack of water but because sometimes the trees are very close together and fight each other to capture the water available.”

In the case of Benidorm, pruning the well-known tree has not been the only task and for this reason, the councillor wanted to transmit “calm and avoid alarms” because checks have been carried out on all the trees “such as the one on Plaza de la Hispanidad” and also in areas such as Moralet or Parque de la Sèquia Mare “where they have been cleaned, branches have been removed and trees that were very close together have been removed so that they are in a better position and can take better advantage of the sun and water.” These works also reduce the risk of fires, the councillor indicated.

González de Zárate wanted to “highlight” the work carried out in recent years in this regard and has therefore revealed that the external technicians in charge of inspecting the trees “have told us that the pruning is very well done, as well as the work of separating and removing trees so that the specimens, in general, are well balanced in terms of their weight and separation so that they can breathe and take advantage of the water without problems”.

The councillor also wanted to send a message of “absolute peace of mind” to residents and visitors “because you can walk through all the parks and pavements of Benidorm without any safety problems for pedestrians”.