In the past few days, the City Council showcased palm orchards brimming with marigolds for the flower battle of the Elche Festival. More recently, the sunflower crops in certain regions of the Unesco area have also become a tourist attraction. To the extent that content creators with hundreds of thousands of followers have designated Instagram reels to the image.
Some individuals even halt their vehicles on the Pantano road, just a few meters from l’Hort de Malena, to observe the fields that are brimming with the iconic sunflower seed plant. One of the objectives of the local PP and Vox administration, which was to transform the degraded image of certain orchards and establish a biodiversity that is appealing to Elche residents and visitors, is being achieved. Nevertheless, there is still a significant amount of work to be done, as the City Council has only been able to restore agricultural use in one out of every ten municipal orchards. Currently, work is being conducted, or will be conducted in the near future, in a dozen of these palm-lined spaces. However, the local government faces the challenge of gradually establishing 90 municipally owned orchards, including 72 historic orchards and approximately twenty that are outside the protection perimeter of the Palmeral law.
The Public Spaces area has confirmed the objective of gradually preparing to return to traditional uses by planting the aforementioned species and other dryland species, such as rapeseed or alfalfa. This process is similar to that which was done in Hort de Pontos, an enclave that has a cultural program to disseminate the values of the Pusol School Museum throughout the city, which occurred approximately 70 or 80 years ago.
The councillor for the area, Claudio Guilabert, has stated that the immediate priority is to clear up the urban gardens that are closest to the homes. One of the reasons, in addition to an aesthetic concern, is that the department has identified that the planting of flowers and other species is promoting the growth of palm trees and reducing the likelihood of water stress, a condition that frequently results in the collapse of palm trees, as was the case in 2024 on a terrace at the Glorieta. An incident that necessitated the government team to arrange a census, protect the remaining palm trees, and eliminate the most hazardous ones.
The primary reason the date palms are being better cared for is that irrigation is being promoted to maintain the entire ecosystem that is being generated around them after planting, as only the plantations have been tilled before.
Regarding production, will it remain consistent?
CompromÃs is requesting that the governing team provide an explanation of the contractual formula under which this orchard production is being conducted, as well as whether it will be consistent year-round or if it is being harvested organically. They suggest that agreements be made with agricultural collectives to ensure the maintenance and restoration of the agricultural sense. Additionally, they believe that it is imperative to have a plan for the use and administration of the Palm Grove in order to develop a comprehensive recovery plan.
José Esquembre, vice president of Irrigation of Levante Marginal Left, underscores that the most significant challenge is “that we are unable to maintain the hydraulic infrastructure.” He maintains that the orchards require the installation of water passages to facilitate flood irrigation, despite the fact that they have primary irrigation channels. He explains that this does not necessitate a substantial investment. In this regard, they assert that they will proceed with the planting initiative once they are able to utilise the reclaimed water from Algorós.
The City Council is currently unable to exploit these crops, such as sunflowers, due to the fact that they are protected orchards and harvesters are prohibited from entering. However, it is possible that the plants in poor condition will be crushed to produce fertiliser, and the fodder plants will be collected to be processed into alpaca, which could be beneficial to local livestock farmers.
Author: Derek Appleton
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