{seasonal style} Fashionable Christmas Lights Dress Up Madrid

Merry Christmas Eve, friends! I have some gorgeous photos that I’ve been wanting to share with you from the Christmas I spent in Madrid a few years back, so today’s post is short on words and big on beauty! If driving around looking at Christmas lights is one of your favorite holiday traditions {it’s definitely one of mine}, then Madrid is about to make your jaw drop!

When Scott and I had the opportunity to join his family in traveling to Spain to visit his brother who was wrapping up his college study abroad experience, we of course jumped at the chance! We love to travel, and I’ve always dreamed of spending a Christmas in Europe! And let me just say, Madrid did not disappoint!

Madrid is considered one of the top destinations in the world to visit at Christmas-time, and it’s certainly not hard to see why! In fact, in 2009, it was been reported that Madrid spent $4.6 million Euros and used almost 8 millions bulbs to light up its boulevards and plazas – making it one of the most illuminated cities in the world! Designing the decorations for the city is a tradition and honor awarded to prominent figures in art, design and decoration. In 2010 {the year that I was visited} it was a prominent group of fashion designers that were tapped with the honor of designing the light displays that quite literally dressed up the city.

And the best way to see all the lights is from the top of the double-decker NaviBus! The bus runs operates throughout December, but we opted to take our hour-long ride on Christmas night.

This trip to Spain was the first time I’ve every spent Christmas away from home and my family, but as the NaviBus says, “Christmas in Madrid Feels Like Home!”

It was a chilly ride on the open top of the NaviBus, but with views like this you forget that you’re cold!

Elaborate Christmas light displays aside, Madrid is just a drop dead gorgeous city at night! One of my favorite sights was the glowing Metropolis building and the brightly lit Gran Via!

Stunning beautiful, right?! Madrid certainly knows how to do Christmas lights right, and the displays also extend to many of the city’s plazas as well. The Plaza Mayor is host to the city’s largest Christmas market with stalls selling mainly Christmas decorations. During the day, the large discs floating overhead hint at what the Plaza Mayor looks like when the sun goes down!

In addition to the colorful lighting display overhead in Plaza Mayor, they also put a light show each hour in which they light the windows and architectural details of the buildings surrounding the plaza.

Another of my favorite Christmas decorations in Madrid was the giant Christmas tree in Puerta del Sol created completely from lights!

The from the inside the Puerta del Sol Chistmas tree is pretty spectacular!

And the perfect way to end an evening of Christmas light viewing in Madrid is with the traditional churros con chocolate from Chocolatería San Ginés near Puerta del Sol!

Madrid is not the only city in Spain that shines bright at Christmas. We saw beautiful lights in many of the cities we visited, including another gorgeous Christmas tree in the center of Salamanca’s own Plaza Mayor, which alternated between being fully lit in blue and twinkling with stars.

Plaza Mayor Christmas Tree, Salamanca, Spain

I hope you’ve enjoyed this quick little tour of the Christmas lights of Madrid! I’ve certainly enjoyed strolling down memory lane, and now I’m very motivated to get a few of these photos printed on canvas to add to my Christmas decor next year! And I’m also thinking we might need make Spanish churros and chocolate a family Christmas tradition if I can find an authentic version here in Denver!

Wishing everyone a joyous celebration with family and friends!

{seasonal style} Fashionable Christmas Lights Dress Up Madrid

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