The Roques Blanques and Les Pruelles Cemeteries in Sitges, candidates for 'Best Environmental Initiative' in the country

July 30, 2018.- The Comarcal Parc de Roques Blanques Cemetery in Papiol and the Les Pruelles Municipal Cemetery in Sitges have been selected as candidates for the Best Environmental Initiative award in the fifth edition of the Spanish Cemeteries Competition, organized by the funeral magazine Adiós Cultural. These two public cemeteries, managed by Àltima, a funeral company with over 300 years of experience in the sector, are the only Catalan cemeteries competing in this category. Both projects focus on promoting the use of biodegradable urns in a natural setting to provide a sustainable response to the growing demand for cremation.

The selection of the Roques Blanques and Les Pruelles projects “is a recognition of our efforts and consistency, as we have always committed to sustainable and environmentally respectful management in all the cemeteries where we operate,” says Joan Ventura, General Director of Àltima Cemeteries. The projects competing for the Best Environmental Initiative award are chosen by a specialized jury, unlike the other four categories of the competition—Best Cemetery, Best Architectural Monument, Best Open House Activity, and Best Story—whose finalists can be voted on online via the magazine's website.

Roques Blanques:

The Forest Path’, a Trail for Ashes Resting in the Woods

One of the finalists in the fifth cemeteries competition is The Forest Path, an initiative launched last September at the Comarcal Parc de Roques Blanques Cemetery in Papiol (Baix Llobregat), a public cemetery managed by Àltima since 1990. The Forest Path is the largest natural space in Spain for the destination of ashes, designed to allow the burial of biodegradable natural chestnut wood urns from Montseny along a one-kilometer forest trail. Families can engrave the deceased's details directly on the urn's wood and receive GPS coordinates for the grave to always be able to locate it, as the goal is for it to be fully integrated into the surrounding vegetation. Currently, the path already has over 144 urns interred.

Awarded the Catalonia Construction 2018 Innovation Award last June, The Forest Path is a project created by architects Batlle&Roig, who also designed the Roques Blanques Cemetery. This initiative complements other sustainable ash management alternatives offered by the cemetery for years, such as the Calm Forest, Family Trees, and the Rest Garden and Fountain. Due to its commitment to the environment, Roques Blanques previously won the Best Environmental Initiative Award in the 2015 Spanish Cemeteries Competition.

Les Pruelles Cemetery (Sitges):

The Poppy Garden’, a Memorial in Nature for Biodegradable Urns

On the other hand, Àltima is competing for the Best Environmental Initiative 2018 award with the project The Poppy Garden at the Les Pruelles Cemetery in Sitges. This initiative involves placing hundreds of handcrafted porcelain poppies under which ashes are buried in biodegradable urns. The landscaped area, also planted with native Mediterranean species, simulates a poppy field as a memorial. Additionally, the space features innovative family rain urns made of bronze, designed as family burial columbaria where ashes are absorbed into the earth with rainwater.