Barcelona speeds up felling of date palms after inconclusive report on cause of fatal accident

The Barcelona council has decided to speed up efforts to cut down date palms across the city after an inconclusive report on the causes of last month's fatal accident in which a 20-year-old was crushed by a falling tree.

"We haven't, nor has the report, been able to find out why the palm tree fell," Parcs i Jardins public gardens official Francesc Jiménez said on Friday.

One of the main hypotheses local authorities considered – and which has not been disproven – is that the tree was healthy but could have collapsed because of the drought.

The city stopped irrigating its parks and gardens last March as a water-saving measure amid the ongoing drought. 

Because of this, around 540 trees in the city deemed to be at risk of falling will be cut down regardless of their health.

The city's remaining 2,000 date palms will now be watered regularly to prevent future accidents.

Parcs i Jardins also announced on Friday that it will systematically cut down all date palms that are over 10 meters in areas where they could cause serious personal damage if they were to fall.