The fall of trees in Madrid is not new. With the arrival of wind and rain storms during the last nine years, five people have died. These days, 'Ciarán', a high-impact storm, has left at least twelve dead in Europe and one of them was a 23-year-old girl in Madrid. When the woman was crossing Almagro Street with her parents, a tree weighing approximately two tons fell, with bad luck trapping him and ending her life.
But can these types of events be prevented? Even the Madrid Emergency spokesperson himself pointed out yesterday that "it had been very bad luck." In Barcelona and other cities, trees also fell and the wind blew away many branches, but the misfortune occurred in the capital, where there is a strong political debate between the left and the PP, which maintains municipal and regional power, for control. of trees in the region. This debate is old, since during the time of Manuela Carmena it also became politicized when a child died in El Retiro.
When strong storms and gusts of wind are forecast, the Madrid City Council chooses to close large parks to avoid this type of accident, but the problem is that many streets also have large trees.
For Joan Pino, director of the Center for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications (Creaf), "more and more trees are planted in cities, which grow and deteriorate and therefore there is a greater risk of them falling." In his opinion, what needs to be done first is "strict monitoring of the condition of these trees." In the Madrid municipality of Rivas, 27 trees were cut down, after an inspection today after the storm 'Ciarán'.
Benito Fuentes, meteorologist, agrees with this opinion, considering that "as the trees get older, they can't handle everything." In his opinion, "trees with large areas, more leafy, have more exposed surface, do not produce the sail effect and have a greater risk of breaking."
Species such as holm oaks or oaks are less susceptible to falling due to their size; On the contrary, pine trees grow more vertically, making them more likely to break. While palm trees, for example, are softer, despite the fact that their morphology makes them adapt to the wind because they are quite flexible.
Agronomist José David Díaz, expert in forestry issues and collaborator of Meteored, points out from Córdoba that "to avoid accidents it is essential to perform pruning well."
Fuentes explains that, in addition, "the wind does not blow the same in all the streets and sometimes there are gusts that are very difficult to predict." In his opinion, "trees with more woody trunks, more flexible wood, are those that are more likely to break." For Pino, the key is "how you make the tree believe," since sometimes "they look for the light and pull up."
Pino is very clear that a key issue is that we must "improve tree pruning to prevent them from growing too much. As well as replace some more columnar species." "Some species," he explains, "such as pines concentrate their crowns at the top and are more susceptible to falling." "They should be changed to more compact species," she says.
And as a third idea, he defends that "we must monitor the mass of trees to remove those that are a problem." And he describes it in the following way: "There are trees that have suffered diseases, that have been attacked by parasites, their trunks are in poor condition due to multiple factors, such as pollution or growing conditions, all of which causes their trunks to weaken. and accidents happen."
Agronomist Díaz also explains that "there are species with poorly developed roots and less attachment to the soil, which means they are less able to withstand the wind storms that we are experiencing these days."
In his opinion, "not all trees are suitable for cities." And it is explained: "Species such as eucalyptus or false peppers have few root systems, so it is not advisable to plant them in cities; on the contrary, others such as shade banana trees are more resistant in terms of trunk and roots." To prevent accidents, he repeats, "well-done pruning is essential."
