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Madrid to Switch On Christmas Lights Tonight at Cibeles With 13 Million LEDs

An expanded LED display anchors a citywide program that runs through 6 January.

Overview

  • Carlos Sainz will activate the lights at 19:30 in Plaza de Cibeles, followed by a live performance from singer Pablo López.
  • The area around Cibeles is closed to traffic from 16:30 to 22:00, with Metro stations Sevilla and Banco de España shut 18:00–21:30 and Sol (Metro and Cercanías) closed 19:00–21:00.
  • Madrid deploys up to 800 police on peak days and assigns 270 municipal agents to the switch‑on, with lighting spread across 240+ sites and official hours extended on key dates.
  • A 12‑metre nativity made from recycled plastics with about 70,000 LEDs debuts in Plaza de las Cortes as one of this year’s signature installations.
  • Spain’s early festive rollouts continue as Toledo inaugurated its lights on 21 November (about 1.1 million LEDs) amid local pushback and business support, while Cortylandia opens in Madrid at 19:00 today and cities including Barcelona, Palma and Valencia launch their seasonal programs this weekend.