The mayor of Vigo, Abel Caballero, has once again pressed the button that turns on Christmas in Vigo "and throughout the planet." In an event held in the central Porta do Sol, packed with thousands of people who did not want to miss such an important event, an ecstatic Knight first addressed everyone present for wanting to "witness the beginning of Christmas on the entire planet Earth."
Punctually, at eight in the afternoon, Caballero went up to the stage installed next to the large Christmas tree. "The moment is exciting," confessed the councilor, accompanied by his municipal government and also by the Minister of Education and Sports, Milagros Tolón, to whom he made reference at several points in his speech. "He supports us so that we can be World Cup winners in the 2030 World Cup," he exclaimed before a dedicated crowd.
"I want us all to share the emotion of Christmas, what it means, the messages I want it to convey," said the councilor of the largest city in Galicia. "Christmas is the closeness and peace that this planet needs so much," he claimed.
In his speech, Caballero claimed that "Vigo invented Christmas in the 21st century", and explained how his city was the pioneer in starting this festival in Spain before anyone else. "We invented Christmas in the 21st century. We realized that Christmas was a culture rooted in a very important part of this entire planet, that in the 21st century demanded different things. It claimed the cultural value of Christmas, but it demanded a way of understanding each other, of having fun, of being together. And we said: this is going to be Vigo. And we already are," he said.
"Do you remember that Christmas in the 20th century started on December 22 with the Christmas Lottery? Then, at the beginning of the 21st century, Christmas started there on December 6-8. We said: Christmas has to start in mid-November and last until mid-January. And you know what? Now everyone starts as soon as Vigo starts," added the mayor of the Olívic city.
His intervention has also been full of reminders and messages to other cities, such as New York, also very famous for its Christmas and which "is on the same latitude as Vigo." "We're sorry New York, but this is Vigo's moment, Vigo's Christmas," he stressed.
Thus, in a countdown from ten and in three languages - English, Spanish and Galician, in this order - Caballero has pressed the button that has turned on the more than 12 million LED lights installed in 500 streets of the city, in addition to luminous arches, three-dimensional figures and different decorative elements, and which has as one of the main dishes its large Christmas tree and the luminous forest in the Porta do Sol.
Disney Character Parade
In addition to the traditional lighting of the Christmas lights, the main novelty this year in Vigo has been a parade inspired by the Disney+ universe, held three hours before the official event and which has toured the city center.
The programming started at 5:00 p.m. with the so-called 'Parade', a show designed specifically for the city that brought together more than 250 participants on a route of about one kilometer.
The parade featured more than twenty giant figures, some up to twelve meters high, as well as dancers, skaters, actors, musicians and bearers of inflatable elements.
Among the characters and references represented have been Buzz Lightyear, Olaf and the Avengers universe, along with proposals linked to Star Wars, The Simpsons and National Geographic.
