One of the things that most characterises the start of Christmas in a city is its lighting. It’s not only a welcoming decoration for the city’s residents but also something fascinating for visitors. Christmas lighting is an increasingly important enticement for cities when it comes to creating a tourist attraction during the Christmas season and has become a real reason in itself to promote trips to a specific destination on these dates.
Some Spanish cities have taken the lead in this aspect and invest a lot of resources year after year in creating this lure with their lighting. Each one with a different investment, but they all offer a great incentive for your visit. Let’s check them out!
Malaga
For some years now, turning on the Christmas lights in Malaga is something of a party in itself that marks the start of this special time of the year. The City Council has a budget of €674,000 for Christmas decoration and uses 2,070,000 LED light bulbs to light up different streets, squares and buildings.
It also adorns public spaces with Christmas trees, wicker figures, thousands of poinsettias and scores of nativity scenes that are made by several associations throughout the city.
Every day, the main street, Marqués de Larios is brought to life with a spectacular audiovisual show as the lights shine to the beat of the music. There’s a craft market in Paseo del Parque where you can try typical sweets like marzipan, nougat and the traditional sweet from Malaga – borrachuelos al vino.
Malaga is notable for being a city destination with plenty of sunshine all year round, traditions and large shopping areas that have made it a perfect destination at this time of the year. Many publications have echoed this and reviewed the city for visitors to enjoy all its attractions.
Madrid
Creativity is what identifies Madrid’s proposal to illuminate its streets at Christmas. It’s now the norm for different architects and renowned designers to leave their mark on the Christmas lights that cover the entire city. This year Madrid’s Christmas lights have 7,427,442 LED lamps.
Emblematic areas of the city and its districts have been filled with new ideas to give light to the festive season. Some, like the ones in Gran Vía, simulate a starry sky or a cat trying to catch the stars; others like those in Plaza Mayor and Calle Fuencarral are filled with huge Christmas trees, Calle Velázquez, Calle Mayor and Carrera de San Jerónimo all have illuminated arches, and new Christmas motifs have been added to the street lights on Jorge Juan, Marcelo Usera, Pedro Laborde and Boltaña.
Many other spaces are decorated in a more traditional fashion allowing us to envisage the Christmas of days gone by. Cherry blossoms are present in the Glorieta de Carlos V and the Matadero. In addition, two new locations are included this year among this year’s decoration: Plaza de Oriente and the patio Central de Conde Duque.
Seville
In previous years it was the centre of Seville that received most of the attention and Christmas decorations, but this year the City Council has decided to enhance the decoration in other neighbourhoods. More than €900,382 was invested in decorating a total of 277 streets.
Apart from the lighting, Seville boasts a range of cultural and leisure activities to provide different possibilities of getting to know the city through the experience of the Christmas lighting. The “Alumbra” programme offers the chance to enjoy cultural activities like concerts, theatre, children’s workshops and exhibitions to enhance the experience its visitors have during their visit to Seville.
Light and sound shows are set up in the city’s most emblematic spaces to provide a real surprise for those who have never seen them before.
The Metropol Parasol, popularly known as Las Setas de la Encarnación (Incarnation’s mushrooms) Plaza de San Francisco, the Alameda and the Palace of San Telmo are all given a makeover for the festive season. Christmas markets also attract many visitors from Christmas shopping in other popular areas of the city such as Plaza Nueva, Prado de San Sebastián and the Alameda.
It’s also worth mentioning the grand tradition of campanillero choirs that gather all over the city centre and the nativity scenes, which represent to a great extent the authenticity of Sevillian craftsmanship.
Vigo
Vigo has decided to invest heavily in Christmas decorations with more than 9 million lights lighting up more than 300 streets for this year’s festive season to provide a dazzling, spectacular result.
One of the main attractions is the enormous 32m light tree in Porta do Sol, which was unveiled to the public with fireworks, snow and synchronised music. Other surprises in the historic quarter this illuminated Christmas include a giant-sized gift at the crossroads between Urzáiz and Gran Vía, an ice rink at the esplanade and the lighting covering the three floors of A Laxe Shopping Centre.
Another of Vigo’s highlights is the famous Three Wise Men parade that never fails to surprise young and old every year.
Barcelona
Barcelona, which generally shows a more innovative character, is not the most committed when it comes to investing in Christmas lights, although crowds continue to flock to the city centre during the holiday season, as at other times of the year.
This year the city has opted for 2 big proposals that evoke storybooks. A giant 4m puppet called Mister Winter and the Big Book of Small Things.
The City Council has invested €1,103,000 in placing 100km of lights in the city’s main streets, business and retail associations contributed €860,000 with a subsidy of 50% for the decoration, but the Condal capital is still far from reaching the figures managed in cities that are firmly committed to making their cities more attractive at this time of year.
