The palm is ubiquitous in southern Spain; it’s all around us, especially along our coastlines but nothing prepared us, when we visited there recently, for the total immersion in greenery that the town of Elche presents. Over 200,000 palms; approximately one palm for every person living there – that’s a lot of palms – and it is the greatest concentration of palm trees in Europe and, arguably, the world.
Palms have been around in southern Europe before the presence of humans; the Ice Age put an end to most of them, except in particularly sheltered areas such as Elche which is close to the sea but protected from the vagaries of a coastal position. But it was certainly the Arabs, during the 8th and 9th centuries, who developed the system of huertos or orchards that you can still so clearly see today. The similarity to oases is striking; the division and sorting of the land, the irrigation channels and cultivation of the palm is purely Arabic.
Water is the giver of life and it was fundamental to the splendour of the Islam age. The formation of the ancient acequias (irrigation ditches) gave birth to famous cities in arid areas as far flung as Bagdad through to Sevilla and Cordoba; the twin cities of Marrakech and Elche were formed at around the same time, towards the end of the tenth century.
By dividing the land into regularly sized parcels, the ministration of the little water available became simpler. But it was salty water so palms (and particularly the date palm) were used to frame the plots to provide protection from the sun and drying winds and filter the water, reducing its salinity and, thus, inside the protection of the palms, plants such as olive, pomegranate, jujube, lemons, oranges and alfalfa could be grown.
The family of palms is made up of same 2,800 different species and they are seen all over our semi-tropical and tropical world. It is one of our most practical plants providing us with dates, coconuts, flour, oil, honey and wine. The plant tissue is used for all forms of woven fabrics as well as building materials.
Palms are not trees – though we commonly, but mistakenly, refer to palm trees! The trunk, or stipe as it is more correctly called, is composed of the remains of the bases of old leaves that intertwine forming a columnar shape. Unlike tree trunks formed from wood, this gives the palm strength yet flexibility. This false trunk can only grow in height, not width. The sap of the palm does not circulate the circumference of the trunk but only through the central core or medulla. This peculiarity in the plant world also makes them remarkably fire resistant; they are able to sprout new shoots from their ashes, which is probably how they get their generic name, phoenix. The trunk is crowned by a crest of leaves that grow in a spiral form made of up to 40 leaves, some reaching up to 3m in length. You can roughly age a palm by its stipe – every metre indicates 10 years of growth.
The date palm (phoenix dactylifera) is one of our oldest domesticated plants and they can live for 200 to 300 years reaching a height of up to 30m. Some exceptional palms in Elche are older than that. There are separate male and female plants; the males are necessary for pollination, a wind-borne process that is often helped along manually in Elche, known as entaconado; fertilised females bear dates which are very nutritional with a high natural sugar level (the next time you get a chocolate craving, chew on a date instead). An ancient Arab saying says that a good Tuareg warrior can survive 3 days in the desert with just one date; the first day he would eat the flesh, the second day the skin and the third day the ground-up seed. Makes me feel bad when I think of how lavishly I eat them!
Elche is the only place in the world where the artisanal process of working with white palm still exists. Clusters of palm leaves are tied together (whilst still attached to the plant) during December. This effectively stops photosynthesis and the new leaves forming are blanched white – much as we do with celery or leeks. From Palm Sunday and through the summer, this covering is extended to allow for growth of the leaves. From September onwards, the creamy white leaves are collected, always leaving the palm with sufficient fronds to grow on strongly. (This is not like the cutting of palm hearts when the plant dies because the heart is taken away) These pale leaves are brushed and cleaned and soaked in bleaching tanks to further whiten them. After drying they can then be plaited and twisted into works of art which are much sought after for Easter processions. We were lucky enough to watch the women weaving these creamy fronds into fantastical statues and whimsies for tourists. It reminded me of the old way of lace making, so fine was the work – though it must be hard on the fingers!
Right in the heart of old Elche is the delightful botanical garden known as El Huerto del Cura, named for the Chaplain José Castaño Sánchez who was a priest and the owner of the extraordinary garden until 1918. It’s a wonderful place to stroll around, some 13,000 sq.m. with around 1000 palm trees but it also has lemon, orange, pomegranate, jujube and algarrobo trees and a superb collection of succulents. The lovely house there has a wonderful covered porch along the front, supported on columns made from palm trunks. Under its shade the daily chores were carried out.
In 2000 El Palmeral de Elche was recognised by Unesco as a World Heritage Site, largely due to the survival of the ancient agricultural oases. Currently the palm groves are mainly used as a landscape and cultural asset than as agricultural sites but there are areas being restored to the old usage and it is easy to delve back in time and imagine the scene from centuries ago.
During the last 50 years or so the urban pressure has been immense on El Palmeral and you have to be glad that a few staunch souls stood their ground and saved this wonderful heritage from the JCB’s – one can only imagine the modern-day war that was fought within the old city. With Unesco support, it now looks able to stand for very many more centuries.
Viveros Florena will be open normal hours over Easter, so closed Sunday and Monday; open between 10 and 4 all other days.
Viveros Florena, Cómpeta,
Garden Centre, Landscape Designers and Constructors.
Winter Hours: 10-4 closed Sundays and Mondays.
Bio Food and Health Market every Wednesday morning.
Tel:689928201 Email:florenaspain@hotmail.com Web:viverosflorena.com
Facebk:Lorraine Cavanagh’s
