Alicante bids farewell to Christmas with the dismantling of the giant Nativity scene

A mere 24 hours after the conclusion of the Epiphany celebrations, Alicante officially bids farewell to Christmas. The city's lights have ceased to shine, the carols have stopped playing, and the giant Nativity scene moves from the Town Hall square to storage.

Artist José Manuel García Esquiva 'Pachi', creator of this Nativity scene - the largest in the world with a Guinness Record in 2019 - began on Monday night the dismantling process, to safely store the pieces until next December.

It was past 10 PM when cranes and vans entered the Town Hall square. Accompanied by the artist and his team, they proceeded to dismantle each piece of this monumental Nativity scene.

With great care, they unloaded the wooden bases to support each character of the Nativity scene, thus beginning the journey of this unique procession by highway to the warehouse where it will remain until next Christmas.

During these months, the artist will work on another aspect of the storage contract for the giant Nativity scene, maintaining and restoring any damage the six figures may have sustained during their display in the Town Hall square this past month.

Throughout the year, artist José Manuel García Esquiva 'Pachi' will inspect any damage to ensure the giant Nativity scene can be reassembled from November 15. However, the Holy Family and the Magi will seek shelter again for 2026, as the current storage contract expires.

The same will occur with the six angels guarding Christmas in Alicante, whose dismantling is scheduled for next Thursday, as confirmed by this newspaper. Artist Lorenzo Santana will store these figures and prepare them for next Christmas, when they will have a new maintenance and rental contract for safekeeping.