Urban Planning, Ecological Transition, Urban Services and Housing

Theatre, music, humour and of course, plenty of light. The ceremony to switch on this year’s Christmas lights is being held in Pl. Major in the district of Nou Barris on Thursday, 24 November, at 6 pm.

The ceremony starts with the show Anys Llum, by the production company La Brutal. This light-hearted theatre and music set is being overseen by the director and actor David Selvas, and also features Coral Musical’s Choir del Raval.

After that, at 6.35 pm, it’s time for the eagerly awaited switching on of the Christmas lights in the district square, and simultaneously in the rest of the city.

Light as a synonym for life

The show Anys Llum, which heads the switching on ceremony, offers a journey through time to convey the importance of light in people’s lives. It features musicians performing live and includes large-format projections.

With music directed by Adrià Aguilera and a script be Sergi Pompermayer, the set combines great works from musicals with other pieces specially adapted for the occasion. The musical link between songs invites spectators to explore the relationship between people and light, particularly during the longest and coldest nights of the year.

A long musical journey, from the discovery of fire to the Saturnalia of ancient Rome, the Middle Ages and the discovery of electricity, through to modern times to discover that since time began, human beings have used light to improve their lives.

At the same stage in Pl. Major, there’s a first performance of this year’s Christmas song, composed by the young duo Ginestà from Sant Andreu and entitled Barcelona is a gift.

With commercial associations

The Christmas lights are regarded as an essential tool to boost commerce over the Christmas period.

In this respect, the city is consolidating the Christmas lighting model introduced last year, with decorations designed thanks to collaboration between the City Council, retail associations and design professionals. This combination brings an update to the design and illumination, making the Christmas lighting a new icon for the city.

Besides the streets lit up with wholly municipal funding, the collaboration between the City Council and commercial organisations makes it possible for hundreds of streets and squares to be decorated over the festive period, in all neighbourhoods in the city.

In all, the City Council will be investing 2.3 million euros in street lighting in the city over Christmas and maintaining the subsidy to cover 75% of the cost of lighting in shopping hubs, as it has for the past two years.

Energy savings to reduce power consumption

The current energy crisis has seen the City Council reach an agreement with business associations in commerce and the restaurant sector to cut the total illumination time of the festive period by 42 hours.

As a result, this year’s lighting campaign, which runs until 6 January, will cut the overall number of hours the lights are on from the 259 in recent years to 217 this year, representing a reduction of 16%.

Money has also been invested in improving efficiency through LED lights, which are now used in 100% of City Council lights and in practically all lighting promoted by retail associations and shopping hubs.

The use of this technology will help cut the contracted power rating by 141.64 KW and the estimated consumption by 63,524.45 KW/h compared to last year. These figures represent a 31% saving in electricity consumption.