Barcelona City Council has presented its 2026 Christmas lighting plan months before the festive season, confirming that more streets will be illuminated and that some of the city’s signature designer displays will be installed in neighbourhoods outside the centre. For residents and local traders, the practical effect is that more shopping streets and public spaces across the city will have festive lighting this winter, not only the central districts.

At the presentation on Wednesday 8 July, fifth deputy mayor for economic promotion Raquel Gil said the advance announcement had become a habit for the council, joking that

it is already a tradition for this council to present the Christmas lights in the middle of summer.

The plan was then published by the Ajuntament de Barcelona press office.

According to reports based on the presentation, Barcelona will reach 130 kilometres of Christmas lights in the 2026 campaign, up from the 110 kilometres announced for the 2024 season. The city will also bring back the large illuminated galets, the pasta shape long associated with Catalan Christmas soup.

Designer lighting to reach Rambla Prim and Passeig Maragall

The council said its distinctive author-designed lighting will continue this year and will spread beyond the central shopping areas. That expansion is one of the main changes in the 2026 plan.

Reports following the council announcement say Rambla Prim and Passeig Maragall are among the routes due to receive this style of lighting for the first time. That matters for residents in Sant Martí, Horta-Guinardó and surrounding areas because the higher-profile festive displays have until now been more closely associated with the city centre.

The aim is for the lights to reach new points of the city, including less central locations.

Gil said Christmas can give those areas an economic boost. In comments reported after the presentation, she said:

The boost that Christmas can give them is important.

Glowing galets return as the city adds more festive features

Another headline measure is the return of the illuminated galets, one of the city’s better-known festive street features from previous campaigns. The council has also kept backing large-format decorative pieces placed at street level in neighbourhood locations.

In the previous Christmas campaign announced by Gil in October 2024, the city set out plans for large LED figures in all 10 districts, alongside longer lighting hours and more illuminated streets. Those figures were placed in locations including Carrer Vallcivera in Ciutat Meridiana, Plaça de les Fonts in Baró de Viver, the Congrés Eucarístic area and squares in Sarrià and la Bonanova, according to the council presentation as reported at the time.

  • 2024 lights ran from Friday 28 November to 6 January.
  • The 2024 municipal budget for Christmas lighting was €3.3 million, a 13% increase on the previous campaign.
  • The 2024 network covered 110 kilometres, six more than the year before.

Those earlier figures provide the clearest public benchmark for the new 2026 expansion. The latest announcement indicates the city intends to go further again this year, both in distance covered and in the spread of landmark installations.

What residents and businesses can expect

For residents, the main change is geographic: more neighbourhood streets are set to be lit, and some areas outside the centre will see Barcelona’s better-known designer displays for the first time. For businesses, especially in district shopping streets, the council is again framing the lighting as an economic promotion measure intended to increase footfall during the Christmas period.

The council has not yet published the full switch-on date or detailed timetable for the 2026 campaign in the material provided, but readers can check the official council channels through the Ajuntament de Barcelona announcement and the city’s published details on the 2026 Christmas lights.

Primary sources: Ramon, barcelona.cat. Reported by Source Text Link, Raquel Navarro, ANNA GAIRALT, metropoliabierta.elespanol.com, Patricia Castán, catalannews.com, Bartolomé Saorin Rios, Judith Cutrona, Jordi Palmer, europapress.es, ground.news, El Periódico Barcelona.