Singer Carlos Gardel said “Que 20 años no es nada” (“20 years is nothing). Gardel was not Valencian, but of course, the arrival of this Central Park would have seemed something to him, because it has taken 30 years to become a reality since its planning. The first difficulty was that the space that part of the city was owned by RENFE (Spain national railway company). The second is that the plans included the burying of the railway tracks, a really important work in any place and more in Valencia, where the water table is very high and as soon as you make a small hole you find water flowing. This can be explained by the engineers who had to deal with the construction of the underground lines in the capital of the Turia.
The delays of the Central Park of Valencia
The park did not arrive although the city had problems to fulfill the ratios of green zone recommended by the WHO, of between 10 and 15 square meters per inhabitant. Valencia remained at 5.64 in 2010 despite all the creation of parks and green areas since the 80s, when they came to include islets and roundabouts as green areas to make up the gloomy statistics. In 2003, an agreement was signed for the park, but local governments kept promising and not complying. American landscaper Kathryn Gustafson won a public contest in 2006 but in the constant discussions the project lost the four aparment towers of twenty-five floors. It would not be until 2015 when the works started.
However, the project that opens today with 11 hectares of garden, with native species, sustainable, with colored lights, specific space for pets, water tanks and other details, constitutes approximately 40% of the total park. The garden will cost about 73 million euros once completed. However the cost of burying the roads will exceed 3,000 million euros, specified the Spanish Minister of Development, José Luis Ábalos, at the opening of the park, present with Joan Ribó , mayor of the city, and Ximo Puig, president of the Generalitat Valenciana.
Figures and details
To follow a little with the figures, about 1000 trees, 85,000 bushes, old ships rebuilt and moved. An essential decontamination of the land was carried out, which was soaked with residues of fuel and oils. And problems of shortages of some materials, and conflicts with some expropriations of land, have made the park was not available until December 17, 2018. But since its opening Valencians have begun to visit this Central Park immediately.
After having seen these photos, we can talk about business. I’m Sergi Albir, professional photographer. If you need images for your company, event, or for you, you can contact me with an email to sergi@archerphoto.eu . Also a Whatsapp at +34 644459753. You can also call me, but if I’m taking photos I do not release the camera).
A little more info in the article by my colleague Cristina Vázquez in El País.