Madrid inaugurates the Christmas season today with the traditional lighting of lights. A ceremony that every year fills the streets of the capital with kilowatts and that this time will be attended by the coach of the Spanish men’s national soccer team Luis de la Fuente and with the performance of the Andalusian singer Álvaro de Luna. With songs like Oath eternal salt and Everything with you, the artist will be the architect of an event that combines tradition, spectacle and the palpable pre-Christmas bustle.
This lighting, scheduled for the last Thursday of November as usual, puts Madrid in a kind of friendly race against other cities like Vigo, where the lights are turned on with an almost cinematic display. In the case of Madrid will be today at 19h.
Tonight, the Puerta del Sol will sport a renovated Christmas tree 37 meters high, dressed with more than 3,300 red balls and crowned by a star that promises to become the new meeting point for locals and tourists.
The institutional protagonism is not far behind. Luis de la Fuente, one of the most prominent figures of the year, will turn on the lights together with Mayor José Luis Martínez-Almeida.
This symbolic and festive gesture will give way to the lighting of the 7,100 chains, 121 luminous cherry trees and a dozen fir trees that will adorn the main arteries of the city. One of the novelties of this year is that some of the luminous designs have emerged from the drawings of primary school children, selected in a contest organized by the City Council.
Transportation reinforcement
Metro de Madrid is reinforcing its lines 1, 2 and 3 to facilitate travel, although Sol station will remain closed during the central event, between 18.00 and 21.00 hours. This logistical maneuver will presumably be repeated on other Christmas dates in view of the forecast of overcrowding in central areas.