Plaça de Catalunya Gets No Christmas Lights as Housing Camp Stays
Barcelona will not light Plaça de Catalunya this Christmas because of the housing protest camp. What happens to the square's designer lights and the switch-on.
Barcelona’s central square will go without Christmas lights this year. The Ajuntament de Barcelona (Barcelona City Council) has ruled out installing festive lighting in Plaça de Catalunya because a protest camp for the right to housing is still occupying much of the space, according to El Periódico, with city sources confirming the decision to the ACN news agency, betevé and Tot Barcelona.
The designer lights made for the square will not be moved anywhere else in the city. City sources told betevé that, “as of today”, no Christmas lighting will go up in the square, and that the designer pieces were conceived “specifically” for that space.
Why the camp stops the installation
The housing camp covers a good part of the centre of the square, betevé reported, and crews cannot carry out the work needed to hang the lights. Neither the city council nor the Generalitat (Catalan government) plans to clear the camp for now, according to Tot Barcelona. The council confirmed its position on Nov. 6.
betevé said this will be the first time in recent years that the square has had no Christmas lighting during the holiday season.
The lights that stay in storage
Reports describe the square’s installation in different ways. According to Ara and Tot Barcelona, the studio Artec won the commission for Plaça de Catalunya with a design called El cor de la ciutat (The heart of the city): close to two thousand elements hung in the air to imitate birds in flight. ACN said those lights were first shown in the square a year ago, and Ara reported they were the ones due to go up again this year.
betevé instead described a canopy of LED rays, designed by Estudi Antoni Arola, that has topped the square since 2021. It reported that this piece will stay in a warehouse until next Christmas.
What it means for the rest of the city
The decision affects only Plaça de Catalunya. Work on Christmas lighting elsewhere in Barcelona started in October and is still under way, according to Ara.
In 2025 the city lit more than 126 kilometres of streets. That year’s designer lighting, the “llums d’autor” programme, appeared for the first time on Via Laietana and brought new installations to Plaça de Catalunya, carrer Aragó and the Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes, Ara reported.
The square sits at the heart of the holiday season in a year when Barcelona holds the title of European Capital of Christmas, according to Tot Barcelona. The award comes from European Capital of Christmas, a non-profit organisation backed by the European Union that recognises cities whose way of celebrating could serve as an example to others. Barcelona shares the 2026 distinction with Wels in Austria and Kirkop in Malta.
Switch-on date still unknown
The council has not said when or how it will hold the official switch-on, one of the most anticipated events of the season. Last year the lights came on Nov. 22 in a ceremony on Passeig de Gràcia, on the stretch between Ronda de Sant Pere and the Gran Via, according to Ara.
Tot Barcelona reported that this year’s switch-on will take place at the end of November and will overlap with the campaign for the Spanish general election on Nov. 29. betevé said the council is holding back on details partly for that reason: if the ceremony again falls around Black Friday, as it does most years, it will land in the middle of the election campaign.
Sources: Ara, Tot Barcelona, betevé
