BRUSSELS (AP) – People in Brussels want open spaces in this time of pandemic restrictions, which often end up in crowded urban parks where social distancing is impossible. Still, one family is above the struggle.
The royal family has an extensive and lush garden in the center of the city, almost the size of Monaco, full of a huge palace and its own rare heron colony.
So is it any surprise that there are more and more voices calling for King Philip to dismantle and open to the public a part of his palace garden during the world’s worst health crisis in a century?
So far, however, no walls have been demolished or iron doors opened.
“It simply came to our notice then. Come on! These gardens are just empty, ”sighed an exasperated Brussels historian and former member of the European Parliament, Luckas Vander Taelen.
In addition, the gardens of the municipality of Laeken in Brussels are surrounded by some of the most densely populated, run-down and impoverished neighborhoods in the nation, full of many families who have no funds to travel to a greener environment.
“The vegetation makes you want to live, especially when you move into a small apartment with an extended family,” Laeken social worker Saliha Mahdi said. “So local people want a park right here because they don’t have the means to pay for transportation.”
The palace gardens are becoming a parable of royal privilege in times of intense need and change.
The monarchy has been deaf before. Last year, at the beginning of the pandemic, King Philip, in an unfortunate attempt to touch the common tone, allowed a drone to fly over the vast domain to show that his family, like all Belgian families, was closed to house.
In a vast expanse of green, with the shadows of centuries-old trees and bushes looming over the perfectly mowed grass, the family had written in huge letters: “Strong courage together.”
Together? Not really.
A kick in the political background for some years, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought the issue to the forefront this spring, with the ruling parties in Brussels and even some of the opposition behind a proposal to opening of the gardens to the public.
“People really need spaces, public spaces to unwind, take in oxygen, play, get to know each other,” Brussels lawmaker Hilde Sabbe said.
And even if the south of the capital has open green spaces for resident diplomats, Eurocrats and the wealthiest, the parts of central and northern Brussels, where the king has his garden, are very different. , with streets, not stately trees.
“In Brussels, most people don’t have a garden. They have no terrace. They have no balcony. So they have to go to the park, if there is one to find, ”said Sabbe.
In this sense, making a part of the royal park available to the public would make a difference. “Couldn’t you let them in?” Sabbe begged the king.
As with all seemingly simple things, however, it is much more complicated.
When it comes to royal property, there is a wide range of legal complexities related to both the state and the royal family. The Byzantine institutional structure of Belgium, with authorities sometimes superimposed between city, region and nation, would make the management of any open park even more complex.
In a more practical sense, the palace must remain safe, not only because the head of state resides there, but also because the heads of state and government visit when they arrive in Brussels to travel to NATO or the United States. European union.
And one more seclusion from the outside century of the world has turned the park into a fragile biotope with unique plants and animals in need of protection.
This remains an argument for some, even if Celine Vandeuren, who lives nearby, has to walk her cat Hector with a leash right in front of the park’s red brick wall, unable to enjoy the beauty and tranquility that is inside.
“My fear is that if we open this space, our presence, perhaps a little too untimely, will disturb nature,” Vandeuren said.
Sabbe disagrees, saying there could be an easy solution to opening up part of the 460-acre park. And he has confidence in King Philippe, 60, who is constantly becoming one of the most progressive of a line of monarchs dating back to 1830.
The Royal Palace has continued to be a mother on the subject and has refused to respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press.
However, for historian Vander Taelen, the solution is obvious to the king.
“It would be so positive for the Royal House to show that there is a link with the city,” he said. “Perhaps the most important thing is if they show solidarity with the needs of their people, of their city.”
____
AP video journalist Mark Carlson contributed.
___
Follow AP pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic,https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak