There are at least three signs that Christmas is approaching. First you start with the supermarketswho dust off the nougats, marzipans and advent calendars to display on the shelves. Then there is the coldthe scarf and the coats. Lastly, they are the light workers who, as if they were night elves, place the skeleton of what will later become the Christmas lighting that adorns the towns and cities throughout Spain.
The cold and the dust have remained unchanged over the years, but the battle to have the biggest, brightest or earliest Christmas decorations has intensified in recent times, with cities like Madrid, Malaga and Vigo generating events only comparable to the celebration of a sporting success. However, the winner of the duel for having the brightest Christmas is not any of them; If not, it is located in Puente Genil (Córdoba), where the offices of Grupo Ximenez are located, responsible for installing the ornamentation of the three cities and 250 other cities inside and outside of Spain.
Riding the Christmas lights, Ximenez has managed to catapult his business figures. 20 years ago the company had a turnover of 12 million euros. This value has risen to 65 million last year in 2023, and the company hopes to increase it to 80 million at the end of this yearalmost a quarter more.
Decoration is presented as a multiplier of consumption that, in Spain, has until now been seen as a superfluous expense. This is what Mariano Ximénez, CEO of Grupo Ximenez, thinks: “Spain has always had a problem: has not properly measured the return of a good Christmas project. In cities like London, New York or Paris they do have it internalized.”
The before and after came hand in hand with Christmas in Vigo, which with its mayor, Abel Caballero, as master of ceremonies, has the concept of Christmas decoration has varied for many municipalities.
“Vigo has undergone a metamorphosis in terms of tourism and economic return since we arrived there. We did a face and eyes project and the mayor and the government team they measured that return very well“explains the CEO.
Mariano Ximénez belongs to the third generation of a saga that has built a lighting empire that, according to the CEO himself, is among the top three global lighting installation and services companies. The company will complete the year comes 80 years and, although Ximenez’s success dates back decades, the manager himself recognizes that the sector has experienced a “metamorphosis“which has led many Spanish cities to join in putting their Christmas at full capacity.
Vigo invests 2.3 million a year in the development of its Christmas lights, which will be activated for seven weeks – from November 16 to January 11 -. Ximénez assures that in the last audit of the council an advertising impact derived from the Christmas campaign was estimated 21 times your investment in lightsof 50 million euros.
All this without taking into account other items, such as what the hospitality industry invoices or hotel expenses. In the absence of this year’s data, between November and January 2023 and 2024, Vigo experienced a increase in visitors of 34% compared to before the pandemicfrom 101,745 in 2019 to 136,665 last season.
Ximénez also warns that, in addition to their amplifying effect, one of the keys to Christmas lights is their low consumption, an element that was criticized during the price increase caused by the 2022 energy crisis but, according to the CEO, does not support the data: “A tree like the one in Puerta del Sol in Madrid consumes the same as a hair dryer [3.500 vatios]”.
Go for the international market
The Ximenez Group’s big business is lighting, which accounts for more than half of its turnover. Now the company has set several goals for the coming years, one of which is based on internationalizing its portfolio. The Córdoba firm has been present in the international market since 2004 and has managed to develop renowned projects such as Fifth Avenue in New York, but now it has the expectation that the business abroad will go from represent 20% of its turnover to 50% in 2030.
On the other hand, the company has plans to expand and improve its facilities and logistics services, for which they estimate an investment of 18 million euros. Ximénez expects the company to close the year with a profit of around 5.5 million and 6 million euros, compared to 4.5 million in 2023.
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