The members of the working groups for Conservation and Improvement of the Urban Landscape and Gardens of the Buen Retiro of the Civic and Social Council denounced the Christmas lighting and decoration that the Madrid City Council placed on the Paseo de México and which were inaugurated this week by the delegate for Urban Planning, Environment and Mobility, Borja Carabante, the councilor delegate for Cleaning and Green Zones, José Antonio Martínez Páramo, and Retiro councilor Andrea Levy. In a press release, they expressed their “opposition” to the installation of successive ornamental panels arranged transversely along the promenade. According to them, “they visually intercept the perspective of one of its most important avenues”, which is why, they add, visitors “are deprived of enjoying the visual axis” that connects the monumental gate of the Plaza de la Independencia to the Fountain of Isabel II or to the Galapagos until January 8.
Equally “unconscionable, if not worse” for this group is the installation on the southeast end of an “unnecessary body sign for El Retiro, with day and night lighting so tourists and neighbors can take Christmas photos and upload them to Instagram, marked in its upper corner with yellow neon.” As detailed by the Town Hall, this decorative arch inspired by the traditional Christmas wreath, “a symbol of unity, renewal and continuity”, is designed to “integrate harmoniously into the central axis of the promenade”.
The arch is decorated with natural, preserved and artificial vegetation, alluding to the celebration, such as evergreens and plants with flowers and fruits in red and white tones. In its center, a wooden bench offers a space to rest. To complete the experience, interactive signage was placed on the ground, indicating the best points of visual interest, encouraging citizen participation on social networks through the hashtag #NavidadEnElRetiro. Concerning the light panels, these imitate the typical stained glass windows of cathedrals, measuring 2.4 meters high and 4.9 meters wide. The images represent different moments of the Annunciation and the Birth of the Child Jesus.
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