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Paper short abstract

In Madrid, if wind gusts are forecasted above 65km/h, some parks are closed due to tree falling risk. However, if temperatures are too high, parks are closed even at a lower gust speed. In this paper, I will explore the complexities and tensions that unfold from the management of those closings.

Paper long abstract

In Madrid, in the event of “adverse weather conditions”, the eventual closing of some of the most important parks of the city is managed following an Action Protocol to prevent risk on the population, which mainly relates to the probability of falling branches or trees. These “adverse weather conditions” are defined by ranges of thresholds of forecasted wind gust speeds. Depending on the official forecasted wind gust speed, a different level of alert is declared (yellow, orange or red). When the alert level is red, risk is high, and parks are closed. These thresholds are also constrained by other variables that affect tree stability, like high temperatures (above 35ºC) and/or high humidity of the soil (75% of water saturation), which conversely trigger social and political debates; for example, when, counter-intuitively, parks can no longer serve as “climatic shelters” during very hot days.

Building on ethnographic work I conducted during the summer of 2025, in this paper I will explore the complexities and tensions of closing a park. In doing so I will propose to mobilise the concept of “municipal gust”, foregrounding the sometimes contradictory relations between bureaucratic logics, municipal departments and the socio-technical implications of Action Protocols, between notions of “natural” beauty and safety, or between the logics of tree conservation, landscape design and risk. From this discussion, and by putting it into relation to other municipal objects, practices, and procedures, I will develop the concept of the “municipal gust” as a partial, incomplete, siloed and fragmented bureaucratic object.