Tarragona has planted more than 20,000 seasonal flowers this spring, doubling last year’s total, as the city works to improve urban green spaces and biodiversity.
The planting programme is part of a wider effort to make the city look better and support wildlife. Tarragona scored 4.21 out of 10 for surrounding greenery in last year’s Healthy Urban Design Index, which was compiled by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health and analysed 917 European cities.
Francisco Domínguez, director of the Brigada, said the city is using different species in each section of the Rambla Nova, depending on sun and shade. Current plantings include pansies, cyclamen, impatiens, tagetes, bidens and calibrachoas, which will later be replaced by summer flowers such as begonias and petunias. Some perennial species are also reused. For more Catalonia-wide local reporting, see news.
The city is also using recycled plastic profiles to define flowerbeds within lawns, giving the planting a clearer layout. That approach has been used at the Capçalera del Circ, where nearly 10,000 yellow and orange tagetes, or marigolds, have been planted.
At the Font del Centenari, grass has been replaced with fescues, which stay green, do not need pruning and use less water. Ramón Abellà, head of service for Sorigué, the landscaping contractor awarded the work last year, said the aim is to create plant mixtures that attract beneficial insects, help control pests and improve biodiversity.
The city says it makes three planting changes during the year, with continuous work rather than a single annual campaign. Its gardening budget is €3 million a year, supported by 76 gardeners and four technicians. Abellà said the work is highly specialised and not always easy to staff.
Officials also say public misconduct remains a problem. Pet owners are sometimes letting animals into flowerbeds, which is banned and can lead to a €500 fine. Theft has also been an issue, with 125 cyclamen plants stolen from flowerbeds in the first days of planting. Guillermo García, councillor for Public Space, said the city needs civic commitment to protect the work.