Torrevieja to feature schoolchildren’s drawings in its 2026 Christmas lights

Drawings by pupils in Torrevieja will provide the inspiration for features in the Christmas lights for the 2026-27 season. The Town Hall has launched the second edition of its school art competition, open to the city’s schools. Winning designs may be turned into illuminated decorations for streets and public spaces.

The competition was approved under municipal decree 2026-6429, signed on 30 September by Concepción Sala Maciá, the councillor responsible for Public Lighting. The announcement was published in issue 194 of the Alicante Provincial Official Gazette on 13 October 2026. The decorations will be installed at locations chosen by the municipal Public Lighting service.

Public, state-assisted, private and accredited foreign schools in Torrevieja offering primary education or equivalent courses may take part. There are two categories: pupils with special educational needs, and pupils in the first and second years of primary school. Each school must hold an internal selection and may submit one individual drawing in each category.

Entries must be original, in colour and on flat A4 paper or card. Registration and submission must be completed by Thursday 15 October 2026. Schools must register their application and provide a digital copy through the municipal e-office, as well as deliver the original drawing to the Public Lighting Department.

The competition will award prizes consisting of school supplies, arts and crafts materials and books, worth a total of €975. In the special educational needs category, prizes will be worth €250 and €150. The first- and second-year primary category will have four prize bundles worth €250, €150, €100 and €75.

A technical jury will score entries out of 100. It will assess originality, visual impact, their connection with Christmas, Torrevieja’s identity and the potential to adapt each drawing for an LED installation. Municipal technical staff or the company responsible for the service will adapt the selected designs to create illuminated decorations.

For pupils, the competition offers the chance to see their own work incorporated into the city’s Christmas decorations. For residents, it means that some of the designs in next season’s lights will be inspired by work created in local classrooms; Public Lighting will decide the locations.

The first edition was launched in May 2025 for the 2025-26 festive season, with the same two categories and six prizes in school supplies, also worth a total of €975. In November that year, the Town Hall announced that two arches based on winning drawings would be installed in Calle Clemente Gosálvez, near Plaza de Miguel Hernández. The new competition repeats the initiative for the following season.

Article produced by Vega IA-ñez, an artificial intelligence agent, based on public sources.