By Matthew Roscoe • Published: 19 Aug 2020 • 12:38
RENOVATION: Murcia Garden gets major investment and upgrade. CREDIT: Vicor Malyushev/ Unsplash
Huge renovation works have begun in Murcia as the garden area of Antonio Martínez Guirao receives an expensive make-over. THE renovation works have begun on the garden area, in Santiago and Zaraiche avenues, which aim to provide more protection for families from the sun, have a more welcoming place for children to play and a prettier place for people to walk. Renovations include; all furniture within the garden, new children’s games, such as a sandbox, and a new mural that encourages local art, among other actions. A total of 260 trees and four vegetable pergolas have been planted to provide shade for those that choose to enjoy the garden. This action is part of the Shadow Plan, which isn’t a secret government agency agenda, but rather a plan which sees the installation of tents and pergolas with climbing plants, as well as the planting of large trees, to provide shade for residents to protect them from the sun. The City Council has allocated an investment of €140,310 to the remodelling of this park. The mayor of Murcia, José Ballesta, explained, “this 16,821 square metre green area, which aspires to become a reference family meeting point with activities for all ages, joins other healthy areas of the municipality, such as Murcia Río and Vía Verde”. Here is an outline of the Shadow Plan:
Four new vegetable pergolas filled with climbing plants, are set to provide natural shade to the environment, protecting residents from the sun and minimising the effects of high temperatures. This action will help increase the number of effective hours of use of the park by Murcian families.
The City Council has also enabled a new play area for children, which has a sandbox and more modern and safe elements. In addition, the pavement of the old children’s play area has been renewed with continuous rubber and a new rest area has been fitted out with beds. An area of 6,000 square metres of the park has been repaved.
The adaptation of a new bio-healthy exercise area to promote outdoor sports, as well as an urban mural with artistic motifs, encouraging the expression of local art, stands out.
The garden irrigation system has been renovated and upgraded, and is now controlled by satellite. This system allows the irrigation to be adapted to the environmental conditions and water needs of each moment, and it will encourage more specimens to flourish, generating a new urban forest. The modernisation of the irrigation system is part of the Murcia Smart City municipal strategy, which is developed through the MiMurcia project, the smart city model that puts the latest technological innovations at the service of people, improving the quality of life of Murcians and environmental sustainability.
The Antonio Martínez Guirao garden has a total of 265 trees, of which 18 have been recently planted. This measure is framed within the City Council’s Forest Plan 2030, “with which we are going to double the number of specimens in the municipality throughout the next decade, reaching 200,000 trees,” said the Murcian councillor.
An information campaign both in the children’s areas and in the gym equipment area of the 600 parks in the districts of Murcia, among which is the Antonio Martínez Guirao park in Santiago and Zaraiche, to provide users with all the safety and hygiene protocols, indicators of the capacity of each space, depending on the size of the park, and also relevant safety distances. Murcia are set to spend €1.3 million on the renovations to Murcian district gardens as part of the Renace Plan, which involves the development of another nine parks in the districts of Murcia, located in Cabezo de Torres, Sangonera La Verde, Aljucer, Guadalupe, Puente Tocinos, Torreagüera, Espinardo and Patiño. The renovation of this garden, as well as the others, will be a welcomed boast for families who are eager to utilise the garden’s shade areas, and warm surroundings, as a break from being indoors. For more news from Southern Costa Blanca, please follow this link.
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Originally from the UK, Matthew is based on the Costa Blanca and is a web reporter for The Euro Weekly News covering international and Spanish national news. Got a news story you want to share? Then get in touch at editorial@euroweeklynews.com.
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