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-   -   Are there Palm Trees in Madrid Spain? (https://www.fodors.com/community/europe/are-there-palm-trees-in-madrid-spain-740462/)

distant_traveler Oct 3rd, 2007 05:04 AM

Are there Palm Trees in Madrid Spain?
 
I am visiting Madrid for the first time in November. By that time I suspect most of the trees that lose their leaves will have gone bare. But when I think of Spain I think of warm sunny weather. Maybe Madrid has Palm Trees and other types of greenery that will stay green year around.

So, are there palm trees in Madrid?

bobthenavigator Oct 3rd, 2007 05:32 AM

Madrid is on a high plateau and is colder than coastal Spain. Check it out--it will surprise you.

kenderina Oct 3rd, 2007 05:37 AM

This is not the Caribe....for sure !!

wally34949 Oct 3rd, 2007 05:48 AM

Hi, I grow palms in Florida and at one time had over 230 different varieties. I have seen palm trees as far north as Tofino, British Columbia, Canada.

Many palm trees can not handle a frost. I lost several coconut palms due to a frost back in 1989 in Florida. Obviously, these palms would not grow in Madrid. A few did survive in my yard, but they lost all of their green frons for awhile.

However some palms can handle cold nights and temperatures 5-10 degrees below freezing as long as they don't persist. I remember seeing Canary Island Date palms in Madrid. There are many other palms that will grow in Zone 7, 8 and 9, which are zones where frosts occur.

Believe it or not, there are thousands of varieties of palms.


Christina Oct 3rd, 2007 06:00 AM

There may be some palm trees in Madrid, but I don't recall seeing them and they must not be common. Common trees in parks there are cypress, sycamore and magnolia, and some pine trees. You just have an incorrect understanding of Spain's geography and climate and are probably influenced only by stories about very southern Spain or something (like Seville).

bobthenavigator Oct 3rd, 2007 06:06 AM

Having just checked out Weatherbase for a 20 year averge for Nov. the answer is high of 58 low of 39---hardly tropicl.

wally34949 Oct 3rd, 2007 06:14 AM

Here is a link with a photo of a palm tree in Madrid. Enlarge the first photo for the palm.

www.aviewoncities.com/gallery/madrid2.htm

lobo_mau Oct 3rd, 2007 06:27 AM

If you email Spanish authorities, telling them how much you love the palm trees and how much you would miss them, may be they can plant some just to make you feel home.

PalenQ Oct 3rd, 2007 06:29 AM

Ireland however does indeed have palm trees.

kenderina Oct 3rd, 2007 06:48 AM

hehehe, wally...in the botanical garden LOL

Seriously, maybe there are some (I have to say I haven't seen them when I lived in Madrid) but it's not the kind of greenery that usually grows there.
If you want to see palm trees..go to Elche in Alicante's province, the biggest palm tree garden in Europe.

wally34949 Oct 3rd, 2007 07:31 AM

Did anyone look at the link with the pretty palms?

janisj Oct 3rd, 2007 07:37 AM

Yes wally34949, I looked at the link - some very nice photos there.

But I really think a solo palm in the botanic gardens or inside the railway station is quite what the OP meant by "Plam Trees in Madrid".

PalenQ Oct 3rd, 2007 08:12 AM

Madrid Parks, Parklands, Gardens: Parks and Gardens in Madrid Area ...Madrid Parks and Gardens (Madrid, Spain) - featuring parks, gardens open to ... to be reassembled piece by piece amongst palm trees and other exotic flora. ...
www.madrid.world-guides.com/parks.html

tod Oct 3rd, 2007 08:45 AM

Hi distant6 traveler:
I have no idea how may palm trees there could be in Madrid but Wally3949's guide to a photo in the Botanic Gardens is a large palm of the Phoenix Canariensis OR Canary Island Date Palm with a smaller one growing to the right.

PalenQ's guide to photos is more obscure as the main plant variety directly in the middle of the photograph is of Ravenala Madagascariensis or more commonly known s the Travellers Palm. This palm variety is very evident on the island of Singapore.
Just in passing: I have in my garden here in South Africa, two Arecastrum romanzoffianum/Cocos plumosa OR simply Cocos or Queen Palm that are well onto one hundred years old!

NeoPatrick Oct 3rd, 2007 08:52 AM

A couple pictures for you to look at:

http://tinyurl.com/2qlclf

http://tinyurl.com/3y9yg3

http://tinyurl.com/36ma2m

cova Oct 3rd, 2007 12:01 PM

Lobo, donīt give ideas to our town mayor. He might decide that planting palm trees is a good idea after digging up the whole town ...

Seriously, it will depend on how quick the autumn goes. Last year it was late, so we had leaves on the trees until fairly late in the winter. Right now weather is very wet and windy, so I cannot promise you anything.

But the Botanical Gardens are always interesting.

Rgds, Cova

Revulgo Oct 3rd, 2007 10:51 PM

There are palm trees around Templo de Debod, an egyptian temple 2200 years old moved from Egypt and rebuilt in Madrid before been flooded by the building of Assuan dam.

mikelg Oct 5th, 2007 12:31 AM

Spain is a very varied country in meteorological terms...Madrid is hot in summer but very cold in winter, so be prepared for at least chilly weather in November.

traveller1959 Oct 5th, 2007 05:29 AM

Last time I was in Madrid in April and it was damn cold..
..in November it will be similar. A winter coat, scarf and gloves will be appropriate. Expect fresh snow in the mountains surrounding Madrid.

The palm tree in the Botanical Garden (Wally's picture) will be moved into a glasshouse.

hdm Oct 5th, 2007 05:33 AM

I was surprised that there were palm trees in Ireland! Not the tall graceful kind but the short stubby kind. It seems that the nuts fall from the trees into the Mediterranean and get carried by the Gulf Stream as far as Ireland. Whaddayuh know?


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