The light fantastic trip

Anyone who's ever left the hall light on when they've gone on holiday will recall the nail-biting wait for the corresponding electricity bill a few weeks later. Imagine, then, being the mayor of Malaga, Francisco de la Torre, at the end of January.

It's that magical time of year once more, when Christmas really begins (in spite of the best efforts of some misguided retailers who've been playing Jingle Bells on a loop since September) with the switching-on of Malaga's magnificent yuletide lighting display (Friday 28 November). You can hear the collective gasps and sighs from here.

Barcelona's Camp Nou football stadium, the biggest in Europe, holds approximately 100,000 spectators. If you close your eyes and picture 27 of them full to capacity, you get an idea of how many LED bulbs will be sparkling their little hearts out over the festive period in order to bring a splash of joy and wonder to the thousands of people coming to pay a visit. About thirty thousand every day, apparently, which fact will, I'm sure, go a long way towards assuaging the mayor's worries about the electricity bill.

Eschewing the favoured angel theme of the last few years, Christmas 2025 in Malaga promises to bring us a 'medallions of light' concept which sounds rather enticing (unless the word 'medallion' never fails to conjure up all-too disturbing images of 1970s delusional would-be lotharios with worryingly unbuttoned shirts and extraordinarily hairy chests. Then it's quite a different story, I can assure you).

Meanwhile in the Botanical Gardens we'll also be able to enjoy nocturnal visits to an Alice In Wonderland-themed light display which sounds like another very tempting option, especially if you've got children or grandchildren to entertain. Oh, go on, do both, it's Christmas.

Everything is so well thought out and so beautifully done where the festive lights are concerned, it's really hard to see where any improvements might be made; in fact, I think it would be rather churlish to point out perceived shortcomings in the circumstances. Oh, alright then, just one. Given that there will be three nightly light-and-sound shows on Malaga's main thoroughfare, Calle Larios (18.30, 20.30 and 22.00), maybe we could be spared Maria Carey's ubiquitous All I Want For Christmas Is You once in a while and treated instead to River by Joni Mitchell. I realise that a sea of revellers weeping uncontrollably into their 'chocolate con churros' isn't necessarily everyone's idea of the ideal yuletide vibe but, you know, a little introspection doesn't go amiss from time to time.

Anyway, whether you'll be oohing and aahing in Malaga city centre, delighting in a botanical Wonderland with Alice and her chums or, indeed, doing both, do be sure to get fully into the festive swing this year - we are, after all, extraordinarily lucky to have these things here on our doorstep. Right then, all together now: 'It's coming on Christmas, they're cutting down trees, tum-tee-tum-tee-tum..'

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