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Gallery|Energy

Photos: Energy crunch dims Christmas holiday glimmer in Europe

From Paris to London, city officials are limiting hours of holiday illumination.

Europe Christmas
Local authorities inaugurate the Christmas lighting in the streets of Vigo, Spain. "If they take away the lights, they might as well turn off Christmas," said Estrella Puerto, who sells traditional Spanish mantillas, or women's veils, in a small store in Granada, Spain. She says Christmas decorations draw business. [Lalo R Villar/AP Photo]
Published On 27 Nov 202227 Nov 2022
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From Paris to London, officials in cities across Europe are limiting hours of holiday illumination, and many have switched to more energy-efficient LED lights or renewable energy sources as high energy prices bite consumers in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

With the Christmas holidays around the corner, officials face the dilemma of how to conserve energy in solidarity with citizens squeezed by higher utility bills and inflation, while protecting public coffers.

The crisis, largely spurred by Russia cutting off most natural gas to Europe, is sparking innovation. In the Italian mountain town of Borno, in Lombardy, cyclists on stationary bikes will provide power to the town’s Christmas tree by fueling batteries with kinetic energy. Anyone can hop on, and the faster they pedal, the brighter the lights. No holiday lighting will be put up elsewhere in town to raise awareness about energy conservation, officials said.

Also in Italy, officials in the northern city of Verona are discussing limiting lighting to just a few key shopping streets and using the savings to help needy families.

“In Verona, the atmosphere is there anyway,” said Giancarlo Peschiera, whose shop selling fur coats overlooks Verona’s Piazza Bra, where officials on Saturday lit a huge shooting star arching from the Roman-era Arena amphitheatre into the square.

The holiday will shine brightly in Germany, where the year-end season is a major boost to retailers and restaurants. Emergency cutbacks announced this fall specifically exempted religious lighting, “in particular Christmas,” even as environmental activists called for restraint.

“Many yards look like something out of an American Christmas film,” grumbled Environmental Action Germany.

In Spain, the northwestern port city of Vigo is not letting the energy crisis get in the way of its tradition of staging the country’s most extravagant Christmas light display. Ahead of other cities, Vigo switched on the light show on November 19 in what has become a significant tourist attraction.

Despite the central government urging cities to reduce illuminations, this year’s installation is made up of 11 million LED lights across more than 400 streets – 30 more than last year and far more than any other Spanish city. In a small contribution to energy savings, they will remain on for one hour less each day.

The lights are Mayor Abel Caballero’s pet project. “If we didn’t celebrate Christmas, [Russian President Vladimir] Putin would win,” he said.

Europe Christmas
An illuminated Ferris wheel is reflected in the wet pavement at a Christmas fair that opened ahead of the holiday season in Bucharest, Romania. Festive lights, composed of LEDs this year, also will be dimmed from 1am to 6am in the old city centre of Brasov in central Romania and switched off elsewhere, officials said. [Andreea Alexandru/AP Photo]
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Europe Christmas
Spectators gather to attend the Champs-Elysees Avenue illumination ceremony for the Christmas season, in Paris, France. "Ecologically speaking, it's the only real solution,'' said Paris resident Marie Breguet, 26, as she strolled the Champs-Elysees, which is being lit up only until 11:45pm, instead of 2am. as in Christmases past. "The war and energy squeeze is a reality," said Breguet. "No one will be hurt with a little less of the illuminations this year." [Lewis Joly/AP Photo]
Europe Christmas
Spectators gather to attend the Champs-Elysees Avenue illumination ceremony for the Christmas season. "It's not Christmas all year round,'' said Parisian Alice Betout, 39. "Why can't we just enjoy the festive season as normal, and do the [energy] savings the rest of the year?" [Lewis Joly/AP Photo]
Europe Christmas
Lights illuminate the traditional Christmas market with a merry-go-round in Frankfurt, Germany, where the Christmas market exhibitors' association said a family Christmas market visit consumes less energy than staying home. A family of four spending an hour to cook dinner on an electric stove, streaming a two-hour film, running a video console and lighting the kids' rooms would use 0.711 kilowatt hours per person compared to 0.1 to 0.2 kilowatt hours per person to stroll around a Christmas market, claims the association [Michael Probst/AP Photo]
Europe Christmas
Christmas lights are displayed on Regent Street, in London, England. London's Oxford Street shopping district hopes to cut energy consumption by two-thirds by limiting the illumination of its lights to 3-11pm and installing LED bulbs. [Kin Cheung/AP Photo]
Europe Christmas
Visitors stand in front of the illuminated Christmas tree at the Winter Wonder and Christmas Market on the Grand Place in Brussels, Belgium. [Olivier Matthys/AP Photo]
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Europe Christmas
A girl uses her mobile phone as she rides on a merry-go-round at the Christmas market in Frankfurt, Germany. "If people stay at home, they don't sit in the corner in the dark,'' said Frank Hakelberg, managing director of the German Showmen's Association. "The couch potatoes use more energy than when they are out at a Christmas market." [Michael Probst/AP Photo]
Europe Christmas
Visitors stroll around Strasbourg, France's Christmas market, one of the oldest and biggest Christmas markets in Europe. Fewer lights are sparkling from the centrepiece tree at the famed market, which attracts two million people every year, as the French city seeks to reduce public energy consumption by 10 percent in 2022. [Jean-Francois Badias/AP Photo]
Europe Christmas
In cities across Europe - such as Strasbourg, France (above) - officials are wrestling with a choice this Christmas. They can dim lighting and send a message of energy conservation and solidarity with citizens squeezed by both higher energy costs and inflation. Or they can let the lights blaze in a message of defiance after two years of coronavirus pandemic-suppressed Christmas seasons, creating a mood that retailers hope will loosen holiday purses. [AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias, File]


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