He said we're surrounded by palm trees or palm trees. I cited dwarf palm trees, Chamaerops humilis and palm trees from China or cannabis (Trachycarpus fortunei), but not the most abundant palm genus in our environment, the most known by far: Phoenix genus. This genus has its seventeen species spread across the hot and tropical lands of Africa and Asia. Two are the most visible: the dátil palm (Phoenix dactylifera) and the canarian palm tree (Phoenix canariensis).

The date palm is dioic, i.e. some palm trees are males and other females. It's grown over the last 6,000 years and it's left with a lot of benefits. Being of one eye, a single trunk is extended, from which all the leaves and flowers are formed. Well, this eye is cut off and eaten as the best delicacy. Without a doubt, when this gentle outbreak is removed, the palm tree dies. The leaves are also not wasted: baskets, pigs, tapestries, brooms, hats, roofs, laces... are also used for fire. The trunk is mainly used in the construction: beam, bridge, gabarra... Its fruit is dates. It's mostly grown by the dátil. Being males and females, they pollinate wind and insects. Each female palm tree can give up to 700 kilos of dates. It is a basic energy source in the feeding of nomads in Saudi Arabia and North Africa, as it contains between 60 and 70% sugar.

In 1755, Swedish naturalist Peter Forsskal made a first mention in the European literature of biological pest control. It describes 32 species that live in the lap of the bits remaining in the trunk after the leaves of the dátil have been cut, and how ants use it to acquire size to the pests.

It is also used as a symbol of the superiority of palm or palm leaf. Once you win the battles, you'll see your palms in conquering cities, in sports competitions, in mass celebrations etc. In the murderous religions spread throughout the eastern Mediterranean, the palm is also used to show the conquest and submission and obedience of the people. I remember that in our childhood it was called a Lauro Sunday that people brought the branches of laurus nobilis to church to bless. The powerful and their imitators brought their palms. Then, these dry palms were found in the balconies of the houses, which denoted a great humility and ability to buy them.

It is no bad thing that these things are over. And religions will also end soon! The one in Palma de Mallorca has done so. An insect that is killing all palm trees has become a terrible epidemic: the gurguru or red peak, the Rhynchophorus ferrugineus. It is an area of Polynesia that extends across the Mediterranean. In recent years it has reached Galicia and Asturias. Soon we arrived eating the tender pussy of the palm trees. Goodbye, Palma!