Christmas in Barcelona
With only ten sleeps until Christmas, Barcelona is feeling truly festive!
If you’re in Barcelona over the holidays, our guide to the city is full of insider tips and recommendations gathered over many years living in the Ciudad Condal. Last week we also curated a gift guide for art lovers, filled with the perfect selection of gifts for the people in your life this year.
Here are our top things to keep an eye out for in Barcelona this Christmas:
All Of The Lights
This year, Barcelona is premiering new, high concept designer Christmas lighting on Plaça de Catalunya and along Gran Via and Carrer d’Aragó. The sleek, contemporary lighting was conceived by the Antoni Arola Studio and we adore it!
“The concept of this project is the light - in all its depth - to pursue a human scale in all things social and to vindicate austerity in all things public. We wanted to work with a single element (LED strip), with a single language that gives coherence and strength to the three interventions: simplify to reuse and be able to recycle. We wanted to create a dialogue between the concepts of classical and actual, and to do so outside the canons and fashions; to generate own codes to be able to transmit in the festival values of tradition and contemporaneity.” - Antoni Arola Studio
Natura Encesa Light Show at Jardines de Pedralbes
Barcelona is also lighting up one of the city’s most emblematic gardens in Pedralbes. Running from 7th December to 9th January, Natura Encesa is a spectacular show and installation of one million led lights and over 100km of wiring (!!), representing and celebrating biodiversity, conservation and natural beauty.
The Sustainable Christmas Fair
The 7th edition of Barcelona’s (not so catchily titled) Responsible Consumption and Social and Solidarity Economy Fair is encouraging local residents to shop locally and sustainably with the slogan “Buy Good and Local. Here, now and all year”! On Plaça de Catalunya from 17th to 30th December (except 25th and 26th) there will be 31 stalls plus a Responsible Consumption Area with a wide range of crafts, clothing, accessories, books, packaged food, cosmetics, toys and stocking fillers. Definitely worth checking out for purchases that support social justice and the environment.
For a more traditional experience entrenched in Barcelona’s history and culture, the Fira de Santa Llúcia, in the Avinguda de la Catedral de Barcelona is celebrating its 235th anniversary.
Christmas at CCCB
The Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona is hosting a festive programme including free screenings of iconic animation The Snowman and a specially designed animated bioscopic projection: “Imaginary Creatures”.
Christmas Festival at Plaça de Catalunya and Plaça de la Universitat
An innovative, tech-driven festival running from 18 to 30 December with a range of cultural activities and projects, including an interactive installation encouraging a real-time conversation on the diverse range of ways of experiencing Christmas today.
Electronica-music duo b1n0 have created a special new Christmas carol based on data gathered from several very famous carols and there will be an interactive architectural piece that turns movement into votes and creates collective Christmas stories.
There will be live music, dance, acrobatics, street art and a specially created 30 minute journey through Barcelona’s past through a “time tunnel” created by film maker Núria G. Lorang and the music group Seward, featuring performers from the Liceu Conservatory.
Solidarity Xmas Tree
This sparkly festive initiative is back - this time in Madrid, after four successful editions in Barcelona. Solidarity Xmas Tree is a charity event in which the world’s best known luxury brands create unique and exclusive Christmas trees to be auctioned in support of charitable foundations.
What are your favourite things to do before Christmas in Barcelona?
If you’re still looking for the perfect last minute gift, why not let our expert art advisors help you find a dream artwork for your loved one this Christmas. Get in touch to arrange a complimentary consultation.