The Madrid City Council has launched a large-scale "Asphalt" project to improve the condition of the city's 323 roads. To prevent the smell of fresh pavement from bothering residents, officials have found an ingenious solution – to cover the roads with mango-scented asphalt. Mayor Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida said that people with a "particularly large pituitary gland" will appreciate this innovation.
This is reported by the Euronews website.
Although the fruity aroma effectively masks the smell of fresh asphalt, residents of the city criticized this approach. On social media, Madrid residents have expressed surprise why the city council has not planted real fruit trees to help combat the heat. After all, over the past 2 years, the city council has cut down almost 9 thousand trees that cooled the urban environment. They believe this is especially important in hot, landlocked Madrid.
The mayor responded to criticism on social media by saying that 5,000 trees have been planted in the last two years. However, 90% of them are concentrated in the outlying areas of Fuencarral el Pardo and Ortaleza, while there are almost no trees in the center.
Experts confirm: trees really work as natural air conditioners, creating a cool microclimate. In their shade, the temperature can be 20 degrees lower than in direct sunlight.
A recent EU study found that increasing green space by up to 30% in European cities could reduce deaths associated with the "urban heat island effect," where heat is trapped between tall buildings and absorbed by asphalt and concrete.
As Europe is forecast to face another period of debilitating heat in the summer, trees have become more important than ever in preventing fatalities.
In the summer of 2023, EcoPolitics reported that Spain was hit by an abnormal heat wave, and the risk of forest fires had reached its maximum level.
In June 2022, we wrote that a heat wave in Europe and strong winds led to large-scale fires on the continent.
