The nativity scene that ended up with a Spanish flag (and without Baby Jesus) on the orders of Esperanza Aguirre

BarcelonaWith 500 figurines, 60,000 lights, and a budget of 45,000 euros, the nativity scene at the headquarters of the Community of Madrid is the largest in the Spanish capital. This year's display has everything: from the Annunciation to the arrival of the Three Wise Men, including a reproduction of the Temple of Debod and the pyramids of Giza in the biblical episode of the Flight into Egypt—and even a figure of Pope Francis. What this nativity scene lacks, unlike the one at Madrid City Hall, is a Spanish flag. However, this hasn't always been the case: there was a year when the 120 square meters of the display were surrounded by an enormous red and yellow flag, just as has been done with the birth of the Madrid City Council since 2019. However, all of this was due to a misunderstanding caused by the former president of the Community of Madrid, Esperanza Aguirre.

It was 2004, and Aguirre went to visit the newly inaugurated nativity scene. After taking a look at the structures of the installation, amidst desert landscapes and kilos of moss, she commented that she missed "the flag." At least, that's what the officials of the Community of Madrid understood, and they rushed to buy several meters of fabric with a double red and a yellow stripe to cover the entire perimeter.

However, when the president found the base of the nativity scene covered with the national flag, she immediately demanded an explanation. No one understood her surprise: the workers told her they had simply followed her orders. At that moment, she clarified that what she had missed was not "the flag," but the figure of the washerwoman that is usually placed in the rivers of nativity scenes (in Spanish, the washerwomanThe story is a recurring theme every time the holidays approach in the offices of the Madrid administration: "I don't know if it's an anecdote or a legend, but it's been a topic of conversation since time immemorial," explains a source who arrived at the Casa de Correos, the headquarters of the regional government, more than ten years later –Andrea Zamorano reports.

The struggle with Ruiz-Gallardón

The story was recounted a few years later by Aguirre herself during the inauguration of the 2007 nativity scene, as reported by the local press. That year, she didn't have to take a stroll to inspect the display, which was the responsibility of the nativity scene makers' association. That day, the nativity scene was left without the Baby Jesus: Aguirre demanded that it be removed. First, she said, because it was inconsistent for it to appear before December 24th, the day of Jesus' birth. And second, because the figure was "excessively" large, with closed eyes and "painted eyebrows." The vice president of the nativity scene makers' association was willing to replace it with a smaller one after Christmas Eve.

Inspections of the nativity scene became a regular practice for Aguirre when the Christmas season approached. The following year, in 2008, she also tried to remove the Baby Jesus from the stable. It was found, however, that the figurine was attached to that of the Virgin, so it was not possible to remove it; an artistic choice that the nativity scene makers maintained had in no way been "intentional."

Another anecdote recorded in newspaper accounts is Aguirre's satisfaction when one of the visitors said she liked the Community of Madrid's nativity scene better than the one at City Hall in Cibeles. The president at the time was Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón, Aguirre's great political rival within the People's Party (PP). In fact, it was Ruiz-Gallardón who commissioned a 200-piece nativity scene for City Hall in 2004. Aguirre didn't want to be outdone (the one she commissioned had 300 pieces) and, moreover, the following year she gave Princess Leonor a complete nativity scene on behalf of the Community of Madrid.