Court halts tree felling in Santa Cruz de Tenerife

A court in Santa Cruz de Tenerife has granted urgent injunctions to stop the felling of trees in the La Salud neighborhood. The decision follows a legal challenge by the environmental group Los Árboles Hablan against the local government's urban rehabilitation project.

The association argued that the tree removal, intended to create a provisional parking area near the former San Gerardo church, was being carried out without the necessary phytosanitary reports or studies on alternative locations required by urban tree protection laws. The group noted that of the approximately 20 trees in the area, about half had already been removed, including a 20-year-old araucaria.

The court accepted the precautionary measures, citing the “evident probability of success” in the legal claim due to the absence of mandatory environmental assessments and alternative site evaluations.