VERONA, Italy (AP) 鈥� Early season merrymakers sipping mulled wine and shopping for holiday decorations packed the Verona Christmas market for its inaugural weekend. But beyond the wooden market stalls, the Italian city still has not decked out its granite-clad pedestrian streets with twinkling holiday lights as officials debate how bright to make the season during .
In cities across Europe, officials are wrestling with a choice as because of : Dim Christmas lighting to send a message of energy conservation and solidarity with citizens , while protecting public coffers. Or in a message of defiance after two years of pandemic-suppressed Christmas seasons, illuminating cities with holiday cheer that retailers hope will loosen people's purse strings.
鈥淚f they take away the lights, they might as well turn off Christmas,鈥� said Estrella Puerto, who sells traditional Spanish mantillas, or women鈥檚 veils, in a small store in Granada, Spain, and says Christmas decorations draw business.
from the centerpiece tree at the famed Strasbourg Christmas market, which attracts 2 million people every year, as the French city seeks to by 10% this year.
From Paris to London, city officials are limiting hours of holiday illumination, and many have switched to more energy-efficient LED lights or . London鈥檚 Oxford Street shopping district hopes to cut energy consumption by two-thirds by limiting the illumination of its lights to 3-11 p.m. and installing LED bulbs.
鈥淓cologically speaking, it鈥檚 the only real solution,鈥欌�� said Paris resident Marie Breguet, 26, as she strolled the Champs-Elysees, which is being lit up only until 11:45 p.m., instead of 2 a.m. as in Christmases past. 鈥淭he war and is a reality. No one will be hurt with a little less of the illuminations this year.鈥�
It鈥檚 lights out along Budapest鈥檚 Andrassy Avenue, often referred to as Hungary鈥檚 Champs-Elysees, which officials decided would not be bathed in more than 2 kilometers (1.5 miles) of white lights as in years past. on city landmarks, including bridges over the Danube River.
鈥淪aving on decorative lighting is about the fact that we are living in times when we need every drop of energy,鈥欌�� said Budapest鈥檚 deputy mayor, Ambrus Kiss.
He doesn鈥檛 think economizing on lighting will dissuade tourists from coming to the city, which holds two Christmas markets that attract hundreds of thousands of visitors each year.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 an overblown debate," he said.
Festive lights, composed of LEDs this year, also will be dimmed from 1 a.m. to 6 a.m. in the old city center of Brasov in central Romania and switched off elsewhere, officials said.
The crisis, largely spurred by , is sparking innovation. In the Italian mountain town of Borno, in Lombardy, cyclists on stationary bikes will provide power to the town鈥檚 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.
In Italy, many cities traditionally light Christmas trees in public squares on Dec. 8, the Immaculate Conception holiday, still allowing time to come up with plans for festive street displays. Officials in the northern city of Verona are discussing limiting lighting to just a few key shopping streets and using the savings to .
鈥淚n Verona, the atmosphere is there anyway,鈥欌�� said Giancarlo Peschiera, whose shop selling fur coats overlooks Verona鈥檚 Piazza Bra, where officials on Saturday lit a huge shooting star arching from the Roman-era Arena amphitheater into the square.
The city also will put up a Christmas tree in the main piazza and a holiday cake maker has erected light-festooned trees in three other spots.
鈥淲e can do without the lights. There are the Christmas stalls, and shop windows are decked for the holidays,鈥� Peschiera said.
After two Christmases under COVID-19 restrictions, some are calling 鈥渂ah humbug" on conservation efforts.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not Christmas all year round,鈥欌�� said Parisian Alice Betout, 39. 鈥淲hy can鈥檛 we just enjoy the festive season as normal, and do the (energy) savings the rest of the year?鈥�
The holiday will , where the year-end season is a major boost to retailers and restaurants. Emergency cutbacks announced this fall specifically exempted religious lighting, 鈥渋n particular Christmas,鈥欌�� even as environmental activists called for restraint.
鈥淢any yards look like something out of an American Christmas film,鈥欌�� 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 Nov. 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 鈥� 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. 鈥淚f we didn鈥檛 celebrate Christmas, (Russian President Vladimir) Putin would win,鈥� he said.
Caballero says the economic return is vital, both for commerce and for businesses in Vigo. Hotels in the city and the surrounding area were completely full for the launch of the lighting and are expected to be close to 100% every week.
Germany鈥檚 Christmas markets have crunched numbers that could make any lighting Grinch鈥檚 heart grow at least three sizes.
The market exhibitor鈥檚 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鈥� rooms would use 0.711 kilowatt-hour per person vs. 0.1 to 0.2 kilowatt-hour per person to stroll a Christmas market.
鈥淚f people stay at home, they don鈥檛 sit in the corner in the dark,鈥欌�� said Frank Hakelberg, managing director of the German Showmen鈥檚 Association. 鈥淭he couch potatoes use more energy than when they are out at a Christmas market.鈥�
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Associated Press reporters Thomas Adamson in Paris; David McHugh in Frankfurt, Germany; Ciaran Gilles in Madrid; Justin Spike in Budapest; Giovanna Dell鈥橭rto in Granada, Spain; Courtney Bonnell in London; and Stephen McGrath in Brasov, Romania, contributed.
Colleen Barry, The Associated Press
