In the streets of the city of Lleida there are 2,873 orphan tree pits.
They were spaces where life existed but plant diseases, institutional carelessness and poor foresight have ensured that all the streets of the town have at least one empty tree pit.
The Lleida City Council tries to reverse this situation but it is late, and it has not quite succeeded.
In fact, they have already announced that several campaigns and European investment from the Next Generation program will be needed to repopulate all these gaps.
The reason why it is impossible to suddenly face the absence of trees in the city is the lack of budget, on the one hand, and the absence of trees in the nurseries.
These businesses have been at stock limits for several months and the culprits for the lack of reserves are the upcoming municipal elections in May.
With the arrival of the elections, the mayors try to finish the great works of the municipalities in a matter of weeks, and the icing on the cake is the essential trees and flowers.
This massive purchase of vegetation is repeated every four years and this 2023 is leaving nursery businesses out of stock of some tree specimens.
In fact, only in the city of Barcelona —which has a municipal nursery— several plantations have already been made in superblocks or in pacified spaces placed at the entrances of schools.
All this just a few weeks before the elections.
Sergi Cardona is a resident of Lleida who last November began counting the number of empty tree pits in the city.
“I have walked through all the streets and I have counted 2,873 trees that are no longer there.
At the beginning of the year, we wrote a report and the City Council itself called us to explain it to them”, reveals Cardona.
They were not the only ones who contacted the neighbor concerned about the city's plant health.
So did the PSC and the Activem Lleida candidacy.
“I don't know if they called us because it's an election year or because they're really interested.
We have made a report and we are asking for a solution”, defines Cardona, who has founded the EscoceLLs Lleida association.
The councilor for the Ecological Transition of Lleida, Jaume Rutllant, assumes that there are hundreds of empty tree pits.
“But in Lleida there are 40,000 trees and this winter we have planted close to 1,000 ″, he defends himself.
The City Council assures that this year they have provided for the nurseries to supply a few hundred trees before the municipal elections, but they acknowledge that in winter last year they could not buy since there were no stocks.
David Borda is the president of the Federation of Nursery Farmers of Catalonia and assures that the current situation of the companies he presides derives from the 2008 crisis. "It was a long situation in which there was no construction and public works, so The work has been hard”, he acknowledges.
He assures that in all of Europe 30% of the nurseries that existed until then disappeared.
Much less was planted.
“A tree must be planted between 8 and 12 years before selling it.
With the crisis, less was planted and that is why this situation has come to such a fair point”, laments Borda.
In addition, in 2022 with the war in Ukraine, prices increased a lot —the retail price of a tree (oaks, ash trees…) ranges between 150 and 200 euros— and now we must add the drought.
To all the variables that Borda lists, we must add the peak of sales that the proximity to the municipal elections supposes.
Pol López is a technician from the same federation: "The municipal elections every four years are always contemplated in all companies because it is a cyclical season that only occurs once every four years."
Even so, this year is very special and López warns that with the drought there are some small town halls that are canceling or delaying planned plantations.
In addition, there is a change of species and trees and flowers typical of the Mediterranean climate are being bought.
The director of the Girona nursery association, Josep Maria Pagès, is also aware of this overwork prior to the municipal elections.
“Still, it's never a surprise.
Town halls do not improvise and order plants and trees months in advance.
Fortunately, they have realized that cities need to be green because it is beneficial for the mental well-being of citizens”, defends Pagès.
Nearly 500 different species are marketed in the nurseries in Girona and half are exported to France, Italy, Germany… “Now all the institutions are demanding that trees be more resistant to climate change and need less water.
The best seller is the hackberry, the banana, which is a classic, and the ash trees, ”he highlights.
Sergi Cardona continues to walk around Lleida checking the health of the trees that are still planted in the tree pits.
It takes several years to make the city shine on every sidewalk, but the EscoceLLs Lleida association has a new mission: "Now we want to plant shrubs in the tree wells to make the city more beautiful and for this we want all kinds of people to get involved and city associations.
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