This Saturday, more than 40 volunteers carried out clearing, pruning and cleaning work on the banks of the Aragon River. passing by Murillo El Fruto. An action coordinated by the municipality in collaboration with youth and women’s associations and APYMA.
They worked in El Sotillo, “an area that was once busy, when neighbors bathed, fished and spent long days in community. Over time, it had been left aside and the youngest did not even know about this active space,” explains the Murillo el Fruto Town Hall in a press release.
This action is part of “VIFS Herriak Villages”, which contributes to “generating individualized strategies to fight against depopulation” in around ten municipalities in Navarre. It is promoted by the Fundación Emplea, with the support and financing of the General Directorate of Local Administration and Depopulation of the Government of Navarra.
The cleaning day started at 9:30 a.m. with five teams who were tasked with clearing brush to open a path to the river bank, collecting waste from the environment, pruning different trees and removing bushes and grasses from the ground. After more than two hours of work, at noon there was lunch and, to top it off, gift baskets were drawn among those present.
The Consistory emphasized that “The Sotillo It’s not just any place, but it means a lot to the local community. Older residents spoke of how they remembered learning to swim on these shores, when, on summer afternoons, their parents would come to spend the day. In its youth, crews arrived mounted on tractors to enjoy the surroundings. The older ones even remember that they practiced popular fishing, then roasted and ate the fish on site.
“But the new generations have not known this reality. The arrival of swimming pools and the passage of time has swallowed up El Sotillo into oblivion and the vegetation itself took possession of the place,” he explained.
To make this day possible, the town hall coordinated with different associations, in particular the women’s association, youth and APYMA. Although this is a first step, the action still needs to be completed and will be complemented by the installation of some picnic areas and appropriate signage.
Furthermore, it was designed an interview process to prevent vegetation from again hindering access to the environment, which will cover the following months.
