All holidays are coming earlier and earlier, and Christmas is no exception. Just stroll through neighborhood bazaars, supermarkets or shopping malls. Once the Halloween celebrations were over, the pumpkins and costumes of witches, ghosts and other characters gave way to Christmas baubles and wreaths, trees, Santa figures and other sets of decorations and decorations. accessories for these dates; without forgetting the panettones, Polvorones, nougats and other traditional sweets.
Less than a month before the start of the festivities with the celebration of Christmas Eve, hundreds of workers are busy throughout the national territory to prepare the thousands of LED strips that will light up Christmas, from large cities to small towns.
Trees made of small lights, giant structures that imitate wrapped gifts with their bows, Santa Claus floats with his reindeer, his stars or his Christmas balls. No one wants to be left behind in the light show, which some cities have already inaugurated in the last days of November. If you want a Christmas getaway to enjoy these days in style, we review the cities that invest the most in the lights chapter,
Vigo, a forest in Porta do Sol
The city of Vigo – in Galicia – is famous for its Christmas lights. It is not in vain that every year thousands of visitors cross this magnificent corner of Galician geography to enjoy all the lighting that they install in its streets but also the sound and light shows that they organize. Nearly twelve million LED lights illuminate 400 streets this Christmas.
The undisputed protagonist of the lighting is its large tree – one of the largest in Spain, measuring more than 46 meters high – which is crowned with a star. Located in Porta do Sol, this year – for the first time – it is surrounded by a forest of illuminated trees eight meters high. The traditional lighting of the lights took place on November 16.
Madrid: births, stars and a big tree
The city of Madrid has nothing to offer for Christmas lighting in Vigo. With almost the same number of LED lights as the one in Galicia – and an investment of around 4.4 million euros – it grew a tree in the Plaza del Sol 40 meters high and 14 meters in diameter. Walking through its streets we will find 7,100 light garlands, another dozen large fir trees, 121 cherry trees, on Gran Vía and in Alcalá you can enjoy an illuminated nativity scene or the giant star of the Plaza de Cristo Rey .
This Thursday, November 28 was the day chosen for the traditional switching on of the lights, two days after that chosen by Paris and a week apart from Berlin. If from these dates and until a few days after Epiphany you have the opportunity to travel to Madrid – or if you reside in the capital – you can enjoy its lights from Sunday to Thursday from 6:00 p.m. to midnight, and the Friday. and Saturday until one a.m. On December 24 and January 5, the lights will not turn off until three in the morning, and on New Year’s Eve they will stay on until six.
Badalona competes for the tallest tree
The Catalan town of Badalona rivals Vigo for the height of its brand new Christmas tree, armed with 100,000 LED points. And even if it does not surpass the Galician, it is very close, with a fir tree 42 meters high. With slightly fewer inhabitants than Vigo and very far from Madrid or Barcelona, Badalona has strived in recent years to become a point of reference and Christmas tourism.
The switching on of the lights was inaugurated on Saturday November 23. If you are planning to visit the city, we inform you that from Monday to Friday there are two passes to enjoy a musical and light show at 6:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m., and on weekends and holidays it is extended until 8:00 p.m.: 12:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m.
The city has installed nearly a million LED lights on around 100 streets, along which it has erected 140 decorative elements and a few walkable structures.
Malaga, an enchanted forest with elves
The Andalusian city of Malaga is also on the list of the best lit cities in Spain at Christmas. It is famous for its tunnel of lights on Larios Street, which, this Friday, November 29, will experience the magic of Christmas for the first time with its switching on of lights in the urban center, decorated with an enchanted forest full of elves. and other fantasies.
At the Botanical Garden of La Concepción you can’t miss the show Illusion. Christmas has many faces but only one heart, which also begins this Friday, November 29 and can be visited until Three Kings Day. Tickets can be purchased on their website.
Barcelona, more than 100 km of lights
Barcelona cannot be missing from this list. The city of Barcelona has installed more than 100 kilometers (110) of LED lights in its squares and streets. As a novelty, this year residents and tourists who walk around Barcelona during the Christmas period will be able to enjoy the show that will be projected every half hour in Plaça de Sant Jaume: a giant star visible on the facades of the city . Hall and the Generalitat.
On the Sant Joan promenade, explains the Town Hall, “you can continue to see the lights designed by Brosmind, which have comics as their thematic axis and which debuted last year”. In addition, 22 Christmas totems were distributed in the dozen neighborhoods that make up the city. “The Town Hall has increased the hours of Christmas lighting: from 243.5 hours the previous year to 322 hours this year, with one day of additional lighting.”
Lighting can be enjoyed Sunday to Thursday, 5:30 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.; Fridays and Saturdays, from 5:30 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. and the day before the holidays (December 25 and 31 and January 5), from 5:30 p.m. to 2:00 a.m.
