The spark of Christmas traveled this Thursday to the last corner of the capital like a wave of light and color, as Marisol sang. The two-time world rally champion Carlos Sainz pressed the red button for the Christmas lights together with the mayor, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, and a group of children, despite the lights having already been turned on a moment earlier without anyone having pressed the button. The Municipality of Madrid inaugurated the season of nativity scenes, nougat and Christmas carols with great fanfare in a Plaza de Cibeles packed with around 90,000 people, according to the councillor. During the event, Almeida showed his more conciliatory and emotional side, appealing for the unity and closeness of all Madridians during the holidays: “All of us who are in this city are the ones who make it special. We get up every day to carry on with our lives and we do it knowing that it is a city that always has open arms.”
At the beginning of the capital’s 46 days of celebrations, there was no shortage of fireworks and musical accompaniment. the song At Christmas everything is possible by David Bisbal managed to make the thousands of participants who gathered on the banks of the emblematic Cibeles fountain sing and dance.
The event started from the top with a video mappingan immersive light and sound show that uses virtual reality to project images onto any building, in this case, Cibeles Palace. Thus, the city hall building altered the color of its walls to the rhythm of the colossal soundtrack of Interstellarby the famous London director Christopher Nolan. All under the watchful eye of thousands of people from Madrid who immortalized the moment through their cell phones.
While the images on the facade of Cibeles followed one another, a voice was heard worn out reproduced a message full of sensitivity and, above all, Madrid pride: “We are a city with a lot of light, and we don’t just say it for the sun, we say it for that blessed habit of making space. An extra chair at the table, another story before going to sleep, a living room that acts as a link between two winters”.
The emotion made its way into the heart of Madrid thanks to the performance of the Crescendo group, from the Teatro Real. The young musicians Lucía Iglesias, Andrea Rey, Marcelo Solís and Belén Castillo performed the classic to the applause of thousands of people Adeste Fidelesa Christian hymn written in Latin.
Surrounded by that atmosphere of celebration and excitement, the singer and composer Pablo López showed off the best live performance he is used to with some of his most famous songs, such as The courtyard AND your enemy. “I really want to push the button,” he joked. extrinsic in front of the warmth of those present.
Christmas lights fever
The tradition of decorating public spaces with Christmas motifs dates back decades, although originally the lighting was much more modest. Long gone are the days when Christmas lighting was reduced to little more than a pile of wires and light bulbs. Surprising citizens with Christmas lights has become increasingly difficult and is climbing the agenda of city councils to become a priority for mayors of all political orientations. In the case of Madrid, the municipality increased last year’s budget by 15% to 6.1 million euros. A generous sum that was earmarked for the installation of 7,134 chains, 126 bright cherry trees, 13 large fir trees and more than 13 million high energy efficiency LED bulbs distributed in the 21 neighborhoods of the capital.
As usual, this year too the municipality has decided to integrate new designs into its private collection of Christmas lights, novelties that have been distributed in some of the most emblematic points of the city. Gran Vía, for example, launched 31 new light bulb arches that recreate snowflakes of different sizes with cold and warm sparkles. In the same avenue, at the confluence with Calle Alcalá, a new 22.2 meter high fir tree has been installed which stands out for its 125,000 light points and its 654 blue balls.
The note of color was provided this year by the Goya neighborhood, in the Salamanca district, which chose to simulate the sunrise through 25 arches ranging from warm white to orange, an original theme that moves away from Christmas motifs but demonstrates that Christmas decoration has also become a true hub of innovation.
Furthermore, Christmas lovers and the most curious will also be able to visit three exclusive models of Christmas decorations, which arrived this year on the streets of Madrid thanks to the fashion brands Oteyza, Isabel Sanchís and Pablo Erroz, three collaborations that are part of the agreement between the City of Madrid and the Association of Fashion Creators of Spain (ACME). Since 2020, brands such as Andrés Sardá, Juana Martín or Roberto Verino have joined, among others.
News aside, this year you will be able to see the famous luminous birth again, which changes position every year. In 2024 it was located at the intersection of Alcalá and Gran Vía, and before that in Colón. This year it is the Plaza de Castilla. Other classics also return, such as the luminous menina on the Paseo del Prado, the large Christmas wreath of Cardenal Cisneros, the angel of Madrid in Colón and the figured nativity scenes at the historic gates of Alcalá, Toledo and San Vicente, as well as the Segovia viaduct.
The lights of Madrid were turned on just a week after Vigo (Pontevedra), the city “where Christmas lives” as its mayor, Abel Caballero, likes to remember. The socialist councilor inaugurated the Christmas lighting on November 15, including a small technical fault that forced the lighting ceremony to be repeated a second time after a few minutes. This year the City of Olives is displaying around 12 LED light bulbs distributed across 460 streets and squares in the city, 40 more than last year. In total there are more than 7,000 ornamental elements scattered throughout the Galician town.
Other large capitals such as Barcelona also welcomed Christmas this Saturday. The Catalan capital offers a unique route with 126 kilometers of illuminated spaces connecting neighbourhoods, businesses and heritage, “which transforms every walk into a visual experience”. The total budget allocated by the City Council this year reached 3.8 million euros. Not even the king of this celebration, the English writer Charles Dickens, could have imagined his own Christmas story —published in 1843— that the battle to be the most Christmassy and most illuminated city would be more alive than ever two centuries later.
