La Mas Delgada del Paseo

A gardener's mistake left this palm standing taller and thinner than every other one around it. When Jardines del Real, also known as Viveros, was planted with rows of Washingtonia filifera palms in the early 20th century, young Washingtonia robusta saplings, a related but distinct Mexican species that grows noticeably taller and more slender, were mixed in by error, the two species being difficult to tell apart while young. By the time gardeners realised the mix-up, this particular tree had already grown tall enough that removing it would have left an obvious gap, so it was left to keep growing rather than corrected. Decades later, it now rises well above its shorter filifera neighbours along the path dedicated to the Peris family of head gardeners, a slender, singular silhouette visible from some distance across the park, and locally nicknamed simply the thinnest one on the promenade. Jardines del Real itself began as royal grounds attached to a palace demolished in the early 19th century, later reopened as one of the city's main public parks, which is why its formal rows of palms still read as a planned avenue rather than an accidental grove, this one slender exception included.