Citizens' initiative aims to recover a lost forest outside Barcelona

The Cultural Association of Can Feu - an organization from Sabadell, a city neighbouring Barcelona - intends to recover a lost forest by replanting trees and plants in the area. 

The goal is to recover as much as possible of the original forest mass. The association wants to restore roads, the torrents of water, and even rebuild an old bridge. 

Promoters of the initiative have started collecting signatures that have already accumulated the support of a thousand citizens.

A century ago, the surroundings of the Can Feu Castle in Sabadell were one of the city’s cultural landmarks. 

However, the forested area disappeared when there was the need to construct buildings due to the migratory wave in the middle of the last century.

Aleix Gonzàlez, the president of the cultural association, explains: “We want it to be repopulated with trees as it appears in the original plans of the city, and to recover the forest that was there at the beginning of the 20th century.”

History of the forest 

The forest was planted at the end of the 17th century with the aim of generating wood to build warships. 

A century later, the materials were no longer needed and 60 hectares of pine trees, oak trees and holm oaks grew. 

In the 1930s, wood from the forest was used to build houses, and with the outbreak of the Civil War, residents of the city cut down a lot of trees to keep warm. 

Now, the local cultural association has proposed recovering the lost forest.