So sad to hear the news today that we are about to lose our last giant ficus tree in the Plaza de la Encarnación. When I first moved to Sevilla there were four of these magnificent trees, one on each corner of the square. If I’m not mistaken, the two on the east side of the square were removed to make room for the Setas, and last year we lost the north-west one for the same reason we are losing this last one. Apparently they were rotting inside, branches started falling off (obviously a hazard) but I mean, what the hell? These trees are the responsibility of the City Council to maintain. How is it that this “rotting” was only noticed in 2022 and only after a large branch broke off? And since then, why wasn’t the last remaining tree studied and cared for?

Anyhow, I took this photo the other day after I’d heard about the branch falling and, as you can see, the tree had been seriously pruned back. But dammit. This feels like it could have been prevented.