Santa Cruz Residents File Urgent Legal Bid to Halt Tree Felling in La Salud

The legal battle to save trees in the La Salud neighborhood of Santa Cruz intensifies this Monday. The environmental group "Los Árboles Hablan" (The Trees Speak) has filed an urgent request with the Contentious-Administrative Court to immediately halt work around the old San Gerardo church. The group is demanding an end to all felling, pruning, and transplanting, and has warned that they may pursue criminal charges if the work continues.

The conflict stems from a project to demolish the church and redevelop the site, which was approved by the local Governing Board on April 27, 2026. The plan, which includes building a parking lot, has caused a rift between the City Council and local residents. Residents report that six trees have already been removed, leaving fourteen others at risk.

At the heart of the dispute is an alleged violation of the Canary Islands' 2025 law on urban tree protection. This regulation requires local authorities to prioritize tree conservation and provide technical justification for any removal, unless there is an immediate safety risk or a clear public interest. The association claims the city’s project lacks the necessary technical studies and fails to consider alternatives to cutting down the trees.

There is also a clear contradiction in the project's own paperwork: while the general report claims large trees will be preserved, the specific gardening plans explicitly call for the removal of flamboyant and jacaranda trees. In response, the neighborhood group has suggested alternative locations for the parking lot—such as the court on Bartolomé Cifra Street or vacant lots on Guanarteme and Cornisa streets—arguing that the environmental cost is too high for a temporary parking solution.

This request for a suspension will be added to an existing legal appeal against the city’s April decision. Meanwhile, the association has called on the mayor of Santa Cruz de Tenerife to release the technical documents justifying the tree removals. They maintain that they are not against neighborhood development, but are instead demanding that the city follow the law and consider less destructive options for the La Salud area.