The unusual palm tree dispute dividing a Costa Blanca community

A political row has broken out in Teulada-Moraira after the local opposition accused the town’s governing Partido Popular (PP) administration of carrying out palm tree pruning at the wrong time of year and failing to tackle a pest problem that has reportedly devastated large numbers of palms across the municipality.

Opposition raises concerns over June pruning

The criticism comes from EME Teulada-Moraira and its president and councillor, Héctor Morales Puigcerver, who says palm trees were pruned during June despite high temperatures and conditions that experts generally consider unsuitable for such work. According to the party, pruning during the hotter months can place additional stress on palm trees and leave them more vulnerable to pests, including the destructive red palm weevil.

EME claims examples of pruning work have been observed in recent days and argues that carrying out the work at this time of year risks accelerating the decline of already weakened trees. The party says the practice is widely discouraged by arboriculture and gardening professionals.

Claims of widespread palm tree losses

Morales has also linked the condition of the municipality’s palms to what he describes as inadequate management, alleging that insufficient preventive and curative treatments against pests may have contributed to the loss of many specimens. The councillor argues that poor maintenance practices have compounded existing problems facing the town’s palm population.

Palm trees are a distinctive feature of Teulada-Moraira’s landscape and form part of the image that residents and visitors associate with the municipality. Concerns about their condition have therefore become a highly visible local issue.

Calls for greater transparency

EME has also criticised what it describes as a lack of transparency from the local government. The party says it has repeatedly requested technical reports relating to the health of the municipality’s palm trees and details of any action plans designed to combat pests and disease. According to Morales, those documents have not yet been provided.

In response to the situation, EME is calling for an urgent action plan that would include a comprehensive tree management strategy, pruning at appropriate times of the year, effective treatment programmes against the red palm weevil, replacement planting for lost specimens and the publication of technical reports relating to the town’s green spaces.

The allegations have intensified debate over how Teulada-Moraira manages its public green areas, with palm trees now at the centre of a growing political dispute.