No excess is good, not even hugs, no matter how loving they are. And receiving 200,000 a year leaves its consequences, no matter how tree-like you are. This is what is happening in the Natural Monument of the Sequoias del Monte Cabezón, in Cantabria, where thousands of visitors come every week to hug a tree, a gesture that looks good on social networks and has become extremely popular as an anti-stress measure since that the pandemic was left behind. So much so that the Cabezón de la Sal City Council has put several measures on the table to "save" the precious redwoods from being hugged, including organizing visits in a controlled manner or providing an entrance ticket, in addition to limiting the Access.
"The trees are weakening because the people who come hug the trees, the bark is degraded, some even take pieces of bark as souvenirs," laments the mayor of Cabezón de la Sal, Óscar López.
In addition to being "bare," many of the roots of the 840 redwood trees in this forest are also being left exposed by "the erosion of stepping on them."
For this reason, the Cabezón de la Sal City Council, together with the Department of Tourism and Rural Development, have decided to "give a twist" to avoid overcrowding of people.
Currently, there is no express prohibition on touching trees, it is only recommended not to do so, although, as the Cabezonense councilor warns, "since there is no surveillance, a prohibition would not prevent people from hugging trees in some cases."
On the part of the Consistory, there is a demand to limit the trees in some way, by means of walkways that prevent them from passing through the soil and damaging the roots, and to regulate access.
"Maybe guided tours, with reservation, to visit it in a controlled manner," explains López, who does not rule out establishing a ticket and charging for entry to cover both night and daytime surveillance. "It's one of the options," she says.
However, he emphasizes that the measures taken to exploit the space for tourism will not be aimed at "seeking economic benefit." "What we want to protect is the park," she says.
These trees, which are not native to Cantabria, were planted in 1940 with the aim of using their wood, like species such as eucalyptus, and reaching up to 50 meters in height, they have become a tourist attraction.
Occupying an area of 2.5 hectares, the sequoias of Monte Cabezón were declared a natural monument in 2003 for being "a very rare species" in Cantabria and with the aim of "conserving this particular place."
