'No one has explained this stupidity': the citizens fighting back in Madrid's war on trees

A shrine to Spain's great writers has become the latest flashpoint in a battle to save a thousand mature trees that stand in the way of building worksThe Plaza de Santa Ana, which sits at the heart of Madrid's literary quarter, is home to statues of Spain's two greatest dramatists - Pedro Calderón de la Barca and Federico García Lorca - as well as one of the many bars where Ernest Hemingway did battle with his thirst. It is also home to dozens of trees that are already beginning to bud in anticipation of spring.The question on residents' minds is how many more springs the trees will see. In recent weeks, the neighbourhood has become the latest flashpoint in a series of protests against the felling of mature trees during key building works in the Spanish capital. Continue reading...