Urban woodland, geyser fountains and water drinkers: Valencia's new Plaza de la Reina
Tuesday, November 26, 2019 @ 1:37 PM
Hot on the heels of its announced makeover of the city hall square, Valencia has revealed plans to give its huge Plaza de la Reina a major facelift.
An 'urban forest' of trees to battle the air pollution found in most large city centres, pergolas to give shade, a children's play area and geyser-type fountains that people can stand-in during the intense heat of high summer are among the ambitious changes to the giant square where Valencia's well-known cathedral and Micalet bell-tower are based.
The aim is to give a clear view of the cathedral from anywhere in the Plaza, make it pedestrian-friendly and to clean up its air.
To help with this, the square will have an underground car park with spaces for 230 cars and 52 motorcycles, a bicycle park, and electric car recharging points.
Councillor for sustainable mobility in Spain's third-largest city, Giuseppe Grezzi, says the car park will cost just under €4.8 million and the Plaza itself, nearly €7m.
Work is due to start as soon as possible, although as yet there is no fixed timescale – the contract and conditions have to be drawn up and the job put out to tender first.
Once construction begins, the square and car park will take around a year to complete.
Rubbish and recycling bins will be mostly underground, so as to avoid flies and bad smells in the heat of summer during the daytime in between nightly collections.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com