Viera y Clavijo Park will be transformed into the city's "green lungs" by 2027.

A large-scale reconstruction is underway in the Viera y Clavijo Park in the capital, and it is expected to transform into a large urban forest by 2027. This was reported by the city hall.

Currently, work is bustling not only in the central building but also in the surrounding area, where there were once beautiful gardens. It is planned to plant another 2,000 trees to make the park a true "green lung" of the city.

Architect Fernando Menis said that after completing the work on the building, they will begin on the exterior area. There, sidewalks will be widened, and the wall between the Viera y Clavijo and Rambla gardens will be removed to create a large open space for people. The idea is that it will resemble García Sanabria Park – with a wide green area and a variety of plants, including 14 cypresses that are already growing in the city nursery.

City Hall representative Carlos Tarife assured that no tree, none of the 55 species of plants currently growing in the park, will be harmed during the reconstruction. They are carefully cared for: a gardener comes twice a week, and a specialist checks the condition of the trees once a week.

Another City Hall representative, Javier Rivero, added that the trees are being cared for, and the project even includes funds for landscaping the gardens. He denied rumors that trees are being cut down for no reason. According to him, the trees that had to be cut down were dead or diseased. Some palm trees were transplanted to other locations due to construction needs, for example, when an underground reservoir was found.

The City Hall decided to hold this meeting in the park to respond to criticism from public organizations that claimed "unjustified deforestation."

Architect Fernando Menis was outraged by these accusations. He said that he himself comes on weekends to water the trees. And those that had to be pruned were done for good reason: they were in poor condition or were obstructing the widening of sidewalks.

According to the project, it was planned to cut down 12 trees. But at the beginning of the work, it turned out that the cypresses inside the park were dead. In addition, a diseased tree and another smaller one had to be removed to widen the sidewalk at the roundabout. A parkinsonia that posed a danger to people was also cut down.

City Hall representatives emphasized that the rest of the trees in the park remain in place, and the garden is now being cared for much better than before.

They also added that Viera y Clavijo will become the new "green lung" of the city, with a playground in the shade of the trees. It will be a great place to relax, open to everyone.

The first phase of the park's reconstruction is scheduled to be completed in 2027. Then the CaixaForum headquarters will open in the central building. In the second phase, they will take on the Pérez Minik Theater. There, the old ruins will be demolished, and a new building with the same name will be built. On the roof of the theater, there will be a square with a large screen showing various information. This will help create comfortable conditions for the Ceiba pentandra, a unique tree that grows nearby and is considered a natural monument. An automatic watering system has even been installed for it.

This Ceiba is already 16 meters high and has a circumference of 360 meters. It was grown from seeds brought from Cuba and planted near the former school.