Barcelona cancels Christmas lights in Plaça Catalunya over housing camp

The council's decision

Barcelona's city council confirmed on Friday, 6 November, that it will not install Christmas lighting in Plaça Catalunya this year. Municipal sources said the council no longer has enough time to complete the installation before the Christmas campaign starts in late November. The planned display is "El Cor de la Ciutat", created by Artec Light Studio and first shown in 2025, made of about 2,000 suspended light elements that recreate the flight of birds. Because it was designed for this specific square, the council rules out moving it elsewhere. Other Christmas lighting sites, including Via Laietana, Gran Via and Plaça Sant Jaume, remain on the schedule.

“We confirm that as of 6 November the council will not install Christmas lights in Plaça Catalunya.”

A camp that has stood since September

The housing protest camp has occupied part of the square since late September, in support of the right to housing. Barcelona Oberta, an association of the city's main commercial and tourist streets, acknowledges the seriousness of the housing problem and the legitimacy of the protests. It argues, however, that prolonging the camp has blurred the original demand and added to a build-up of dirt and deterioration of the public space. The group wants the council to agree a withdrawal with the campers, then clean and refit the square after the general strike on 11 November. It also points to the removal of the Puerta del Sol camp in Madrid on Tuesday, 3 November, as a precedent to consider. The square was also hit by vandalism against shops on 24 October.

“Barcelona's commerce cannot afford to lose the Christmas campaign in Plaça Catalunya.”

Festival and political fallout

The Institut de Cultura de Barcelona (ICUB), which organises the Christmas festival, is studying alternatives in case the event cannot be held in the square. The festival is normally staged in Plaça Catalunya from 20 to 30 December, with storytelling, circus and dance acts. In 2025 it booked nearly 20 theatre, dance and circus companies, six of them international, plus nine music bands. Barcelona Oberta wants the festival kept in the square rather than moved to the Parc de la Ciutadella, noting that staging it requires several weeks of preparation.

The Partido Popular's leader in the city council, Daniel Sirera, called the situation a shame and blamed mayor Jaume Collboni's "incapacity" to enforce municipal rules. He said Barcelona would be the only large European city whose main square has no Christmas lighting, a point he considers especially serious because the city holds the title of European Capital of Christmas 2026. Sirera said he asked the mayor in Thursday's plenary session, on 5 November, to evict the camp over degradation, coexistence and safety problems.

“Collboni is allowing a minority to take over a space that belongs to everyone.”

What comes next

The council is due to publish the calendar and details of its Christmas campaign on Monday, 9 November. The general strike takes place on 11 November, and the campaign itself begins in late November. The council has not yet announced the switch-on date for the city's Christmas lights. The articles do not report any decision to clear the camp, and the festival's 20 to 30 December dates depend on whether it can be held in the square.