With stars similar to those of La Sagrada Familia, Passeig de Gràcia will be illuminated this Christmas. In this way, the important commercial artery of the city will renew its Christmas lighting, paying tribute to Gaudí on the occasion of his 200th anniversary.
This was revealed by the Associació Passeig de Gràcia, highlighting that this year the stars will replace the popular butterflies. In addition, they consider stars to be a very Christmas-like element that brings light, peace and joy.
The illumination will keep the Barcelona touch that this year continues to be exalted with the star that has crowned the Sagrada Familia temple for a year.
The Christmas lights make the city’s inhabitants feel more Barcelonian, along with Gaudí the local symbol and Paseo de Gràcia where two of its most famous buildings are located.
Since 2009 the Associació Passeig de Gràcia has been organizing this Christmas initiative.
Passeig de Gràcia this Christmas
The lighting design, as in previous occasions, is in charge of Ximenez Iluminación. The ingenuity of the Cordovan company was able to configure an LED installation composed of 35 twelve-pointed stars (the same as the Holy Family).
They will be located in the central lane and will be accompanied by 60 more installed in the side streets. The decor will be complemented by another very traditional element of the era: more than 300 rows of strip lights. It will form something like a sky of 1,000 and one stars.
Another novelty is that during the day, the material used to make the lights will allow them to reflect colors to liven up morning strolls.
The lights will make their marvelous appearance starting November 24 and for 44 days, totaling 217 hours of illumination.
However, due to the energy crisis still in force and following an agreement between the City Council and merchants, the lighting schedule will be reduced by one hour this year. It appears that the savings will not be very significant if the calculation is made for all parties.
Switch-on schedules
Thus, the lighting will be on at the following times:
- From Sunday to Thursday it will be lit from 5:30 pm to 10:00 pm.
- Fridays and Saturdays it will be open until 23.00 hours.
- During special days such as Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve and Twelfth Night, they will be lit until 01:00 hours.
In total, the Passeig de Gràcia Association will allocate 180,000 euros to finance the lighting, of which the city council will contribute 120,000 euros.
The lights used this year, 2022, will be maintained during the next Christmas campaigns, until 2025.
This year, and in spite of the energy restrictions, the lighting of the lights is awaited with great enthusiasm to be able to live Christmas again in normality and presence, enjoying the beautiful Christmas illumination.
