Before it was officially inaugurated on November 22, 2021 after its renovation, Plaza de España was already Christmas: days before, on November 11, a large fir tree, 18 meters high and weighing about 2.5 tons, was installed for the first time. And as if honoring this event or as if wanting to make a new tradition out of something that for the moment is still a novelty, exactly one year later a new natural fir tree has been placed in the same location.
Since last year a cut tree was used and there was no root ball available, i.e. the soil that is attached to the roots of the plants and allows them to be transplanted, replanting was not a possibility: the future of the fir tree was to be transferred to a composting plant to make substrate. If the operation were to be repeated in subsequent years, as has been the case, this decision would require a new fir tree each time.
On this occasion, the fir tree – which was installed in the early hours of Thursday, November 10 to Friday, November 11 – is a little longer than last year’s tree: 19 meters, one meter longer than the 2021 tree.
Christmas in Plaza de España
In addition to repeating the installation of the fir tree -which joins other giant trees already visible in other parts of the capital-, Plaza de España will repeat this 2022 as the place chosen for the switching on of the Christmas lights in the capital on November 24 at 19h.
One day later, on November 25, the large 450 square meter ice rink will be operational again and a Christmas market is also scheduled to be set up again. It will be the same day that EMT buses will be free again on the occasion of Black Friday on November 25, 26 and 27.