The Cordovan company that lights up the world at Christmas
What would you say if we told you that the **Christmas lights ** that decorate half the planet are from a Puente Genil family business , a **town of Córdoba ** ? What if we also told you that in the streets of this town Some of the Christmas lightings are tested that will later decorate large cities around the world?
Now, the same thing happened to us when we found out: we thought it was wonderful.
And it is that, when we say the world, it is because we really refer to THE WORLD, in all its immensity: from 5th Avenue in New York to a big capital like Moscow, passing through cities of countries as diverse as Holland, South Africa, France, Canada, Mexico or Australia , have deposited, on some occasion, their Christmas lighting trust in this company from Cordoba. How do you stay?
we talk about Ximenez Illuminations , which saw the light - never better said - in the middle of the 20th century in one of the main streets of Genil Bridge . And his story, full of beautiful details and nuances, could well serve as the basis for the script of one of those christmas movies that we like to see so much on these dates.
Iluminaciones Ximénez van
WHEN PUENTE GENIL WAS ELECTRIFIED
The first thing we have to do is go back in time 130 years, which is already saying: Puente Genil then became the first town in Andalusia -the second in Spain, only after Barcelona- to have electric light . The reason? The existence of a natural waterfall in the Genil river, which made it possible to transform the hydraulic system of a flour mill so that it could generate electricity.
It would not be, however, until 1945, when Francis Jimenez, a young electrician from the town decided to undertake and set up his own shop on the main street of the town. Of his own accord, when Christmas came, he decided to give his shop window a little love and he made a little star out of light bulbs . That, surprisingly, was something magical for the neighbors, who soon flocked to see it.
"The following year he decided to do the same but with the entire street" , he tells us, almost 75 years later, Mariano Ximenez , grandson of that visionary and General Director of Illuminations Ximénez nowadays. “It was the apotheosis: even people from neighboring towns came to see it. From then on that became official and the City Council commissioned my grandfather to decorate the streets of Puente Genil every year”.
Puente Genil is the guinea pig: Christmas lights from around the world are tested here
But the thing did not stop there, and after the Christmas lights of his town came those of the neighboring towns, those of other provinces, those of large cities, those of the fairs and, finally in 73 , the jump to the capital. “At home there is a black and white photograph of that year in which My grandmother appears walking down Gran Vía ”, recalls Mariano wistfully. That milestone meant the conquest of the unconquerable, the great step that remained to be taken.
What they did not imagine was that the future had a much more ambitious plan in store for them: cross the borders of your country.
THE INTERNATIONAL JUMP
“I still remember when in 2004 we went to our first international trade fair”, says Mariano, who has been part of the third generation of the family immersed in the business since 1998. “ It was in Germany and there we went in a van from Puente Genil, two colleagues and I with a small stand and the intention of going out into the world”.
Lights of Moscow, installed and created by Iluminaciones Ximénez
And it is not that it has rained too much since then -what is just 15 years?-, but enough so that Iluminaciones Ximénez has been transformed, eye to the data, in one of the largest and most important lighting companies in the world . "Until 2009 we did not make our first effective sales", Mariano tells us, "today, however, we have made more than 600 projects in 600 different cities of all the world".
Total more than 40 countries in which they have put the light on Christmas , yes, but also to other events as curious and different as all kinds of fairs, carnivals , the birthday of the daughter of a very influential character in the United States, some other Royal wedding or to the festival of Ramadan in countries like Dubai, Qatar, Egypt or Iran . “We already have partners and subsidiaries in many other parts of the world,” he points out.
Although yes, there is no doubt: the great responsible for the Cordovan company being where it is, is Christmas. Some data? Here they go: Ximénez has been in charge of the Christmas lighting of all Tiffany's stores, for example . And they have been responsible for installations in cities like Los Angeles or San Francisco, on the American West Coast, Chicago, Hong Kong, Macao, London, Oslo or Malabo itself : there is no one who can resist their proposals.
Announcement of Ximénez Illuminations
THE KEY MOMENT
But if there is a key moment each year for Iluminaciones Ximénez, that is the night in which the Christmas installation of Puente Genil . “In the end, our neighbors are the ones who have the most criteria and that is why they are much more demanding: it is already difficult for us to surprise them,” jokes Mariano. And no wonder.
From the company they have been years using his own locality as a guinea pig , decorating its main streets with the most mesmerizing display of light and color one can imagine , and turning its ignition into a highly anticipated event. “We have to test innovative products and see how they perform. Genil Bridge for that we use a little show room ”.
So much so that normally that same proposal is acquired by another large city that, the following year, hires it for itself. something that happened with Almeria, Portimao or even the Russian capital. “In 2014, for the 125th anniversary of electric light, a very special installation was made in Puente Genil that began in October and lasted until Christmas. That same structure, a gothic gallery of lights, lit up the following year Moscow ”, comments Mariano.
One of the light tests in Puente Genil
This year they are already immersed in the middle of the campaign and are finalizing details. “We have a very important project in Mexico DF , where we are going to make a huge Christmas tree, although the most important commission this year has come from City of Panama : we are going to illuminate a large part of the city”. In addition, they have installed a light and sound show in Liverpool, in which there is a tunnel of light synchronized with a song by the Beatles. They will also have a presence in Denver or in the capital of design: the Piazza del Duomo in Milan, this Christmas, he will have an Andalusian accent.
"We try that more than a lighting project is a tourism attraction project , that people want to live the unique experience of visiting this or that city at Christmas”. Something they have been achieving for years through **custom projects in places like Malaga**, where they also generate a significant economic impact. "5 million people passed through Calle Larios last year at Christmas," he says. In Vigo, on the other hand, the economic impact was 40% and there was record hotel occupancy.
Vigo, which year after year becomes the traditional Christmas story, also shows off the work of Iluminaciones Ximénez
And best of all, every little step forward, from Ximénez, is made with an eye toward a more sustainable world. want create awareness that there are new models of energy consumption , something that works from within: they use state-of-the-art LED bulbs and have reduced both consumption and CO2 emissions to a minimum.
“ That a Christmas tree in Puerta del Sol consumes the same as a hair dryer, It is a great achievement and has meant a huge investment that is still paying off, but we have achieved it”, he concludes.
Now, in full countdown to Christmas, we just have to wait and see what surprises they have prepared for us this year . Although there is something that we have no doubt about: as always, they will overcome again.
The Iluminaciones Ximénez team, manufacturing Panama's Christmas