On Wednesday, July 30, with temperatures reaching 30°C, the city council of Vigo, Spain, began switching on its Christmas lights. The move caught residents and tourists wearing shorts and short sleeves by surprise, as Christmas Eve is 148 days away.
“Half of Spain, or almost all of it, is basking in the sun, but there are still 420 streets to light. We have to start now,” explained the municipal president, Abel Caballero. In practice, this is a marketing campaign by the municipality, which wants to exceed the number of visitors it received during last year’s Christmas season, which was six million.
The Vigo City Council plan calls for illuminating 402 streets and squares, some of which stretch for more than a kilometre, with 11.5 million LED lights, 1,259 decorative arches, 2,674 different decorations, 2,518 trees with lights and even a 50 metre high Natal, built by Abel Caballero, billed as the “biggest in the world”.