Christmas, that time of year when the cold and lights decorate the streets, people try to spend time with—supposedly—their loved ones and when consumerism takes over society. A fact that city councils are aware of and that is why they seek to create incentives in order to illuminate these festivals in their municipality above the rest. This year the competition between municipalities is to have the size of the largest Christmas tree in the country.
The installation of a large tree is still a type of marketing campaign with the aim of attracting Christmas tourism. Antonio Pareja, strategic director of the Wavemaker marketing agency, explains that the months in which these holidays take place are of low tourist seasonality, since people prefer to stay at home, and "with the excuse of Christmas, people look for and invite people to leave home and live a unique experience.
Badalona, Vigo, Cartes (Cantabria) and Granada compete to place the largest Christmas tree in Spain, justifying this expense "due to the wide impact at the national level."
This competition that threatens to become a Christmas classic began at the end of October when the mayor of Badalona, Xavier García Albiol, boasted of having installed the tallest Christmas tree in Spain with a height of 40 meters with the aim of converting his city into a "Christmas benchmark in the country." Abel Caballero - mayor of Vigo, defender of this model of Christmas tourism and author of comparisons such as that the lights of his city are "infinitely" better than those of New York - challenged Albiol stating that if half a meter more was needed, which was already They would look for a way.
A new competitor suddenly entered the fray between the two mayors. From the small Cantabrian municipality of Cartes (5,781 inhabitants), the socialist Agustín Molleda appeared to assure that they were going to build an even taller tree: "If Vigo and Badalona get roosters, we will raise the tree as far as necessary."
When it seemed that the duel would be three-way, another candidate appeared in Granada. A private initiative from the Nevada Shopping mall announced that they were planning the construction of a 55-meter-high tree, not counting the two-meter star at the top. If there are no setbacks, the Granada tree will take the title of the largest tree this year
It seemed that the one from Granada will end up getting the title of the largest tree in the country, although in Badalona they can claim that they have been the first to have it installed and, in Vigo, that theirs will be "the most illuminated." Cartes announced over the weekend that, after the renovation of the Granada shopping center, they would try to raise the 45 meters initially planned to 65. Headlines, news programs and virals, meanwhile, have taken them all.
The Albiol town council finally chose to define theirs in the note to the media as "the tallest luminous tree with a musical show in Spain." And more than 50,000 people attended the lighting last Saturday. In addition, there was a wink from his Galician competitor: the mayor of Vigo sent a video to congratulate the residents of Badalona on Christmas and invite them to Vigo. he doesn't want to "have comparisons."
“These municipalities have managed, without a doubt, to make a destination visible for, at least, this Christmas,” says the director of the Madrid municipal tourism company Destino, Héctor Coronel. After the middle of the month of November, the four protagonists begin to collect the first results.
Cartes has been located on the map by thousands of Spaniards who until now were unaware of the existence of the municipality. A similar case is that of the private initiative of Nevada Shopping in Granada, since thanks to its 55-meter tree an increase in hotel reservations in the city has been noticed, according to the travel agency Rumbo.es.
And Badalona is already considered one of the most Christmassy cities, just as Albiol wanted. According to a ranking prepared by the company specialized in tourist accommodation reservations Ebooking, the Catalan city is positioned as the third most Christmas city in Spain, only surpassed by Torrejón de Ardoz (Madrid) and its "Magical Christmases" and by Vigo, which at Just like the previous year, it leads this ranking.
The famous "lights of Vigo" have become a tourist attraction. According to a study that measured travel through mobile phones, the city of Vigo received more than five million visitors between November 19, 2022 and January 15 of this year, a number that its Knight hopes to exceed this Christmas.
In Vigo, the numbers point to a 19-meter star, which will allow the 34-meter tree that is part of the 6,000 structures, 4,000 arches and 11.5 million lights to be increased by 10. The expenditure - or investment - is 1.42 million euros, EFE reports, compared to, for example, 4.3 million in Madrid, where the lighting returns to Puerta del Sol, after years in the Plaza de España, with a 35 meter tree and 11.8 million LED bulbs.
“Now what we have to do is see if this expense [in Badalona, Granada or Cartes] serves to specifically highlight a destination or if, on the contrary, it is used to become a Christmas reference, as is the case of Vigo” he reflects. Colonel. Does this battle make sense? "Marketing projects such as having the largest Christmas tree in Spain make you have a media impact that for certain places is difficult to achieve in any other way," underlines Pareja.
Just 30 minutes by car from Madrid is what promotes itself as the European Christmas capital, a symbolic title but one that has allowed Torrejón de Ardoz (130,000 inhabitants, 20 kilometers from Madrid) to become a Christmas tourist destination. . Declared of regional tourist interest, its Magic Christmas is promoted this year as "the only park with two Ferris wheels, the largest Nativity scene in Spain and the only Ice Rink on a lake." To access the venue, general access tickets start at three euros (free for Torrejoneros). They represent "the greatest projection of Torrejón de Ardoz in its history" and attracted one million visitors in the last edition, according to the City Council.
For its part, the "Together we shine brighter" campaign, which has been organized by Ferrero Rocher for ten years, illuminates a town in Spain, chosen from among several finalists, with "spectacular" Christmas decoration and lighting. This year the towns of Benasque (Huesca), Celanova (Ourense), El Burgo de Osma (Soria) and La Alberca (Salamanca) are competing for this tourism boost award.
In addition to the war in the heights, other towns try to attract attention with other striking (and Instagrammable) elements. In Alicante, with the lights on since last Friday, a bear with hundreds of light bulbs, or, in Cartagena (Murcia), a 10-meter-high snowman. Donosti will have 600 illuminated arches, compared to almost 300 in Vitoria; Zaragoza will have a 12-meter sphere in the Plaza del Pilar, in Pamplona 3,000 biodegradable luminous lanterns will be released... The magic of light to try to attract tourism at Christmas.
