The red weevil beetle is continuing to ravage the palm trees in Mallorca. Palma City Council this week has said that the insect is munching its way through the palm trees of the city - in particular, in Cala Major and along the iconic Passeig Maritimo. Lack of funds has meant that the weevil has been able to spread rapidly, with over 170 trees known to have been infected this year.
Palma is synonymous with palm trees and the image of the city would suffer greatly if the rot continues to spread. The weevil eats the interior of the tree, the leaves and the shoots, and once infected, the tree cannot be saved. The cost of replacing Majorca's 2540 palm trees is estimated to be over €6 million.
The City Council of Palma, the Department of Agriculture and the Council of Mallorca have joined forces to ask the European Union for funds to deal with this horticultural crisis. No local council has any spare cash to cope with the plague and European money is seen as the only way to combat the weevil.
Private land owners are being asked to inspect their trees for the insect and to prune their trees during the winter as this is when the weevil is dormant.
