The Rosalía Mera Park, in Dorneda (Oleiros, A Coruña), has reached the top of the Galician green scene by winning first place in the 5th edition of the Xardín Galego 2025 Awards, a recognition that is equivalent to Best Galician Garden year.
The space, located between the streets of Mar and Poza, adds 19.908 m² surface naturalized and designed for living, learning and enjoying, with walking, resting and physical activity areas integrated into an open and accessible design.
Why it has been chosen as the best Galician garden
The jury, composed of specialists in ecological gardening and landscaping, valued that the park combines with solvency artistic creation, technical solutions and environmental criteria (as the remodeling of the gardens of Sant Pau del Camp), with a strong emphasis on education and citizen participation.
The drive to the biodiversity through naturalized habitats, the preferential use of native species and the selection of local materials, measures that reduce the environmental footprint and improve the bioclimatic behavior of the complex.
The design responds to an approach resilient to urban development pressures, promoting daily mobility, leisure and gentle sports in an environment designed for all ages and needs.
Its open, collaborative and multifunctional nature has turned Rosalía Mera Park into a benchmark for inclusive public space, which invites intergenerational coexistence and learning on the street.
The project and its authors
The transformation of the area was driven by Orza Landscaping, the Habitat Naturalist Group and Trébore Gardening (social economy cooperative), with contributions from local businesses and craftspeople, creators and the Oleiros City Council.
The park was developed on a soil of private ownership and urban classification, ceded to public use due to the developer's commitment in an area of high building pressure, a strategy similar to that transfer of use and reactivation in El Grao, which reinforces its social vocation.
The result is a naturalized green lung that integrates walks, stays, play and exercise areas in the same fabric, maintaining pre-existing elements, such as the renovation of the Plaza de América, and reinforcing the identity of the local landscape.
The jury and the contest
The award is given by Agaexar (Galician Association of Xardinería Companies) In its fifth edition, held in 2025, a competition that recognizes Galicia's best practices in gardening and landscaping with an ecological focus. For related events, see the ExpoJardín Misiones guide.
The court was formed by Jaume Alagarda Nacher (FEEJ), Francisco Marco Rubio (Spanish Association of Ecological Gardening), Santiago Lamosa Quintero (USC) and Alvaro-Fernando Roca Rodriguez (FP, agricultural technical engineering), who emphasized social involvement, environmental education, and the use of local resources.
Impact on Oleiros and Galicia
With this recognition, Oleiros reinforces its role as benchmark municipality in green planning and sustainable urban design, promoting educational, inclusive, and climate-adapted public spaces.
Dorneda's experience shows that it is possible, even in stressed urban areas, generate green infrastructures of high social value that root environmental values in the neighborhood and serve as a replicable model in Galicia and the rest of Spain.
Rosalía Mera Park epitomizes what is expected of a large public garden today: Responsible management of nature, sense of community and careful designA project that looks to the future without losing its local essence.
