Goodbye to the asphalt queens (and hello to real trees)
It seems that the Government of Mexico City is giving a definitive swipe left to the palm trees. Yes, those same ones that have been the Instagram background of half of CDMX for decades, but that apparently have more red flags than we thought. In a movement that has got everyone talking, the head of Government, Clara Brugada, announced that the capital’s greening plan does not include, not even by mistake, these divas of the urban landscape. The official reason: a fungus that has been sending them to the other side since 2011 and that has turned some 9,000 of them into a latent risk. Basically, they are the toxic party guest who refuses to leave.
The ‘plant-pocalypse’ has begun
Between September and December of this year, 1,500 palm trees that already show lethal symptoms will be removed. The rest… well, they will have to wait their turn during the six-year term. The reason? Their roots are anarchists who do not respect the pavement and, to make matters worse, they do not provide shade or environmental resilience. Come on, they are more decorative than functional. They will be replaced by native trees such as duraznillo, tejocote or arrayán—species that do know how to behave and that also truly beautify the city. In other words, we are changing the catwalk model for the scientist who saves the planet. Priorities, dear ones.
86% of these palm trees are concentrated in the municipalities Benito Juárez, Cuauhtémoc, Coyoacán and Miguel Hidalgo. Just where it hurts the most… and where there is the greatest risk that a palm tree will decide to say goodbye dramatically on top of a car or, worse, a person.
And how did these exotic divas get here?
Turns out it was all the fault of a work trip. Like in a bad episode of *Emily in Paris*, but in the 40s. Miguel Alemán returned enthralled by the luxurious Beverly Hills, with its tropical aura and its palm trees as a status symbol, and decided that CDMX needed that *vibe*. So he imported the phoenix canariensis directly from the Canary Islands. And so, for decades, we have lived in a low-cost version of California… until the fungus said “that’s good.”
Since 2011, these specimens began to show a progressive decline associated with fungi and microorganisms that attack leaves, trunks and roots. Come on, they got the worst of the Tinderinos: the one who not only ghosts, but destroys.
The operation: more complex than a neighborhood drama
For this almost apocalyptic mission, Sedema will provide around 120 specialists, including climbers, examiners, biologists and pruners trained to work with tall specimens. 25 units and support equipment will also be added, including a mini loader, three stump grinders and two 40-ton cranes. It sounds like an action movie, but with trees.
In coordination with the Secretary of Works and Services (Sobse), crews will be formed to operate on high-traffic roads and parks. There will be weekly felling, stump removal and planting goals. And each replaced tree will have irrigation, maintenance and monitoring tasks. In other words, they don’t just remove them: they ensure a good future for their replacements. #GreenAffectiveResponsibility.
So now you know: if in the coming months you see that your trusted palm tree disappears, it is not the end of the world… it is the beginning of a new one, with more oxygen and less fungal drama.
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