Nine new senior citizens in Mijas were handed their keys to their newly allocated urban garden plots on Tuesday the 15th of November. These gardening areas, located specifically in phase IV of Las Lagunas, next to the Tamixa school, and in La Cala de Mijas, have been granted by the Mijas Town Hall’s Senior Citizens Department so that pensioners and retirees can enjoy their free time growing fruit and vegetables.

The mayor of Mijas, Josele González (PSOE), together with the councillor for the area, Tamara Vera (PSOE), were in charge of handing over the keys. “Today, we are handing over nine urban vegetable garden allotments to users who have collected their keys with enthusiasm and commitment. As we have said to some of them: we are the ones to give them the keys and the space, but they are responsible for sourcing the seeds and plantlings, dedicating the time and, above all, the effort, which is what I think makes all this more rewarding, collecting the products that they themselves cultivate with their own hands, something that enhances their active ageing in an outdoor space”, said the mayor, who added: “we continue to improve our urban plots with the objective of adding value to a project that also promotes coexistence among our elders”.

 

For her part, Vera said that “there is a great demand for plots, so I think that today is a day for celebration in which some people are going to receive their garden. As the mayor explained, we are not just talking about the fact that a municipal space is being handed over, but also about what it means for these senior citizens, as they are offered another option for recreation, to have a retirement routine, and from the department, we will do everything we can to continue to encourage their use”.

This activity makes our retirees and pensioners feel active, day after day, as well as providing both entertainment and socialisation, which is why the municipality of Mijas currently has more than 200 urban garden plots spread over three areas: two in the centre of Las Lagunas and one in La Cala, as it is an activity that enjoys great popularity among the elderly citizens of the municipality. “In many of the cases that we have been studying with all of them, particularly with people who have a delicate personal situation, these gardens help them to be active again and to set different goals in their daily lives”, explained the councillor.

 

A “rewarding” activity

They are in charge of growing the fruit, vegetables and greens that they will be able to enjoy with their family and friends when they are harvested. One of these new users, Francisco Cuesta, said: “I still don’t know what I am going to plant. It will be three or four different things for the house, for the grandchildren to eat”.

Daniel Von Ziegler, who also picked up the key to his plot of land, stated: “it is a very rewarding experience because it is very satisfying to eat food that we have grown and the process of reaching that point is the most comforting of all”.

For his part, Manuel Rosas, received his garden in Las Lagunas with the anticipation of tilling the soil for the first time “I have some friends here who also have gardens and we will get in touch with them to arrange to come at the same time. My wife also enjoys gardening and I hope she will come with me and help”.

 

Finally, mayor Josele González sent out an invitation to all the elderly citizens of the municipality: “I would like to invite all the pensioners who have recently retired to come to the Department for Senior Citizens to find out about the process they need to follow in order to access these gardens, because it will be a wonderful and, above all, gratifying experience for them”.

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