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Christmas lights on a Milanese street, Source: Milan Municipality

Record length of streets get Christmas lights in Milan

Record length of streets get Christmas lights in Milan

The brightness is thanks to stronger-than-ever participation from the private sector, pointing to signs of economic recovery

Milan’s municipal website announced that this Christmas season will be unprecedented thanks to a record 30 kilometres of the city’s streets getting their own holiday lights. This is great not only because of the joyous feeling it will give to the local residents and tourists, but because it represents a confident sign of economic recovery and private sector vibrancy.

The City Council placed a tender for the lighting of the streets and squares and 14 companies responded with proposals to participate – the highest-ever number, meaning that is yet another record. What’s also different this year about the winter holidays decorations is that it will extend further out into the suburbs, whereas in the past the lights tended to be concentrated in the downtown area.

Lights attract commerce

In the heart of the city, there will be 12 kilometres of streets covered in lights, in the rest of the districts there will be at least 18, a length never reached before given that in 2019, the last year without a pandemic, the kilometres covered by lights were 12 overall!

The Councilor for Economic Development and Labour Policies, Alessia Cappello stated: “We are delighted with this extraordinary result. The projects presented by 14 sponsors, compared to 4 in 2020 and 8 in 2019, reward a city that is experiencing a period of recovery in every sector, starting with the economic one. Thanks to a fruitful and renewed collaboration between public and private sectors, we have managed to give to Milan its past image and even overcome it since we will have more illuminated streets and more areas of the city than before.”

What’s more, neighbourhood associations can also present their own projects for street decorations and receive up to 3,000 euros for each approved proposal from the Municipality. They can present their projects until 14 December and thus boost the length of lit-up streets even further.

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