A show with 800 light sources, lasers, projectors and hundreds of kilometers of cable is taking shape in a public park in Barcelonaprotected by being declared of urban and singular interest by the vegetation and the animals that houses After obtaining permission from City hallSince the end of October, the company Naturaleza Encendida SL has been setting up the lighting circuit that will occupy a large part of the Torre Girona gardens, in Pedralbes. The show’ Natura Encesa will be deployed over 17,538 square meters of grovewith exhibitions from November 20 to January 21.
The Polytechnic University of Catalonia (CPU) establishes its rectorate within the same green area and disagrees with the tour staying close to its headquarters for two months. Please note that this is a wooded area. “fragile”. Among other requestsdemands that the City Council ensure that the light path “does not in any case affect the vegetation of the space or the fauna”. He advocates that “if necessary, they be reduced capacity”. It also urges us to guarantee “minimal alteration” to university activity, the Supercomputing center – a powerful supercomputer housed in the old chapel of Torre Girona – and the neighbors.
The government of Mayor Jaume Collboni responds that it ensures “at all times to preserve the flora and the fauna” of the place. He claims that the promoters meet the required requirements. For its part, Naturaleza Encendida answers that it collaborates with the UPC. He highlights that, when presenting his project to the competition that the City Council opened in summer, he introduced changes suggested by the university “to live together harmoniously” in the park.
Critical conclusions
The UPC has informed the district of Les Cortes of the results of a report internal and external, which check the impact of the lighting itinerary on the gardens. “They question the adequacy of the proposed activity to the dynamics of university use of the rectorate building and to the protection of the biodiversity of space,” says the university.
EL PERIÓDICO has been able to consult both opinions. His conclusions are critical. In its diagnosis, the UPC alludes to the fact that “a minimum of 65 species and up to 38 of them are protected species, which are prohibited by law from harming or modifying their habitat, he says. “The festival impact report ignores the wealth and ecological diversity of the Torre Girona gardens […]”, without considering the nocturnal fauna, the wintering fauna and the resident fauna all year round, which is precisely the one that will be affected by the nocturnal and winter activities of this facility,” warns the study of the University.
“The conservation of native wildlife has taken years” in the park, the document emphasizes. “With the installation and execution of the festival, there is a risk “very high risk of the existing fauna being affected in its functions and even disappearing from the space,” he warns. Believe that the illumination of the more than 500 figures of the circuit will cause a “Light pollution” that will induce the “alteration of the normal biological rhythm” of the birds, mammals, amphibians and invertebrates that inhabit the area. “It will prevent them from using the area like they do now to rest, get their damsetc., and it will make them flee,” he predicts.
“Risk of fire”
Natura Encesa will schedule daily screenings every 15 minutes from 6:00 p.m. to 10:45 p.m., with 200 spectators each and a total capacity of 4,000 people. The tickets They are sold at prices between 14 and 30 euros. “The presence of 4,750 people daily, 300,000 in 63 days, will mean the elimination of the vegetation along the route, due to the action of the footprints continuous throughout the festival period, the compaction of the soil along the itinerary and the consequent limitation of the infiltration of humidity necessary for the forest,” warns the UPC report.
In parallel, the university commissioned another opinion from the environmental services consultancy Aprèn. He maintains that, of the 21 facilities on the light path, “15 have incompatibilities with vegetation or fauna. He judges “it is evident that the Torre Girona gardens are not the ideal place” for the event, which will involve “a agglomeration excessive” and a “very high impact on soil and vegetation.
The external report points out that “the important passage of people and materials” threatens to spread invasive plants already located in the park for even more surface area. It also suggests that the “dangerousness” of a large cedar tree that “presents a risk of falling on visitors” be examined.
The UPC fears that the “hyperfrequentization” lead to an “uncontrolled discharge of waste”, “noise” and even an “increased risk of fire” in the park, “full of pine litter” and with species “highly flammable”. Add the “generalized drought” and “the possibility of cigarette butts being thrown on the ground.”
The university is also wary of committing “assaults to the vegetation”. He emphasizes that the peculiarity of the land’s trees – with four cataloged groups – implies that “in case of death of specimens, the impact cannot be compensated by replanting them from a nursery. He urges that the works for the ‘show’ not remove soil or flatten plots, “or any other action that involves attacks on the undergrowth”, nor “the elimination of copies”.
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Naturaleza Encendida replies that it has not cut down any trees, that it has cleared land that it claims to have found dirty and that seeks “the least impact on fauna and flora.” The council adds that the company presented “corrective and compensatory measures” to collect the authorization of the Department of Climate Action. It promises “exhaustive monitoring” and that the promoter must repair the damage if they occur.
The UPC urges that, once Natura Encesa is completed, “work should be done immediately.” to safeguard space. The university proposes a use plan and increase the level of protection of the gardens.