You only need to do a brief review of social networks to realize what the Quintero Báez palm tree, in Huelva, means to the people of Huelva. The specimen, with 130 years of history, has become a meeting point for friends and an icon and emblem of the city for more than a century, a seal that is doomed to disappear.
The sad news was announced today by the Huelva city council, from where it has been confirmed that, to "guarantee the safety of citizens in the event of a possible structural failure and breakage of the specimen", the tree will be cut down in a controlled manner. .
The palm tree, which has overcome various diseases and has resisted the passing of the years, has not been able to cope with the force of Storm Bernard, which left it bent and with a high probability of breaking.
At a press conference, the first deputy mayor of Urban Planning and Environment, Felipe Arias, presented the conclusions of the study to which the specimen was subjected this week to check its condition after the passage of Storm Bernard.
Thus, according to this report and in accordance with the recommendations of the technicians of the Parks and Gardens Service of the Huelva City Council, it is necessary to cut down the palm tree in a controlled manner to guarantee the safety of citizens.
Among other conclusions, the experts assure that the current state of the palm tree is greatly diminished "as a living being, given its advanced age, its history of pathologies and defects, and the damage that arose after the last storm." In addition, the report continues. , "its location in a central square of the city, with permanent and high pedestrian and road traffic, represents a very high target point for a possible structural failure and breakage of the specimen."
For all these reasons, the study concludes, the current situation of the palm tree makes it "totally incompatible with minimum safety guarantees, since the threshold of tolerable risk that it represented in the event of an adverse phenomenon has been exceeded, so, unfortunately, but Putting the safety of citizens above all else, we must recommend its immediate felling in a controlled manner.
In response to these statements, the first deputy mayor has assured that "the safety of the people is the priority, we cannot put at risk the lives of the people of Huelva who spend every day under the palm tree and although it has not been a simple decision, for all what the palm tree means to many generations of Huelva residents, we have to be responsible and heed the recommendations of the experts.
Regarding the date of the felling, the mayor has stated that it is a complex operation that requires special machinery, but negotiations have already begun with a specialized company, and we are waiting for the machinery to arrive. so the area will be cordoned off until then for security.
The City Council plans to plant a palm tree in the same location as the current one in the shortest possible time.
Huelva and La Palmera have become the subject of debate on social networks throughout today. The felling, although it leaves everyone sad, has its defenders and detractors who believe that other methods could be chosen that would allow the century-old tree to remain standing.
The debate is open and there are those who try to pay tribute to it out of nostalgia and affection and others who try to add a touch of humor to this information.
For now, and before the palm tree is removed from the central plaza in Huelva, there are those who plan to go closer to take the last photos of this specimen still 'dancing' with the gusts of wind and say a final goodbye to an emblem of the city.
