Christmas in Madrid

It’s Christmas time in Spain once again. The city is filled with lights, my students have been devoting their days to making holiday crafts and learning Christmas carols, and I was eagerly counting down the days until I return home for the holidays (I’m here!).

The Christmas spirit in Madrid may not make me feel quite as warm and fuzzy as what I’m used to in the States, but Christmas in Spain, like Christmas everywhere, is the most wonderful time of the year, and Madrid is looking pretty spectacular these days. The city offers a pretty neat Navibus, which, for €2, takes you on a tour of many of Madrid’s lights, though the line was insane when we arrived, so instead we saw the lights by foot on an unusually warm night. Here are a few of my favorite shots I took while wandering the decked-out city.

Puerta del Sol’s glowing Christmas tree

Looking up inside Sol’s light tree

Tirso de Molina’s Christmas fair

Churros, chocolate, and Christmas

El Corte Inglés, Spain’s most touted gift-buying destination, and huge crowds flocking to Sol around Christmas time

The Vodafone-sponsored tree (ahh, commercialism) along Gran Vía

Puerta de Alcalá

Appropriately rainbowed Chueca

Mercado San Antón in Chueca

The Metropolis Building on Gran Vía – gorgeous no matter the season

¡Feliz navidad a todos!