"Now nougat, tomorrow cannelloni": These are Barcelona's new Christmas lights.

BarcelonaA Friday of thermal contrasts at Barcelona City Hall. With stifling heat outside, the municipal government presented at a press conference the Christmas lights that the city will display at the end of the year. Among the new features are the new designs that can be seen on four main Barcelona avenues: Via Laietana—which has new lighting after three years of construction—Plaza Catalunya, Gran Via de las Corts Catalanes, and Carrer Aragó. In total, the city will have 126 km of illuminated streets for Christmas—16 more than last year—and a budget of 3.8 million.

The new designs are the result of an ideas competition sponsored by the City Council and the Industrial Design Association ADI-FAD. In the case of Via Laietana, Ester Pujol (Nahtrang Studio) and Marta Cerdà are inspired by the panot de flor (flower-shaped tree) to create pixelated figures that represent festive icons. Thus, the twenty illuminated arches that will be installed along Via Layetana will feature figures ranging from the Three Wise Men to New Year's Eve grapes.

In the case of the section of Gran Vía between Muntaner and Passeig de Sant Joan—another of the streets that will debut a new lighting design this year—APO's approach is to reinterpret traditional candles and transform this thoroughfare into "a serene and evocative landscape." It will do so through more than 900 vertically suspended luminous methacrylate tubes simulating candles, with a cord of light winding between them "as if it were a moving river of light."

Aragó Street will also be illuminated for the first time, leaving behind the constellation of warm bulbs it has displayed in recent years and welcoming the "Christmas at Home" project designed by SMLXL+MA–MA. The project involves filling the street between Muntaner and Passeig de Sant Joan with around twenty illuminated banners, between 8 and 12 meters long and 2.2 meters high, displaying phrases "with a touch of humor." Among the phrases appearing in the recreations made public this Friday are "Ara, turrons!", "I'm making canelons tomorrow," and "Vens per Nadal?"

Meanwhile, in Plaça Catalunya, the venue opted for a "poetic and immersive light installation" featuring a choreography of lights that simulates the flight of birds forming hearts in the air. In this case, as with the lights on Passeig de Gràcia, the installation can be enjoyed both at night—when the LEDs are illuminated—and during the day, offering colors thanks to the reflections of natural light.

The giant illuminated figures remain

The city council will maintain one of last year's main innovations: it will continue to distribute giant Christmas-themed light figures in the city's less central neighborhoods. These types of structures can be seen in locations such as Pride Square in Sants-Montjuïc, Montbau Square in Horta-Guinardó, the Ciutat Meridiana Metro station in Nou Barris, the Jardins de Elche in Sant Andreu, and Bonanova Square in Sarrià-Sant Gervasi.