Belén del Ayuntamiento de Madrid

From 28 November to 5 January

28 November, from 4 to 7pm. [last admission]

From 29 November to 4 January, from 10:30am to 7pm [last admission]

24, 25, 31 December and 5 January: from 10:30am to 1pm [last admission]

Mondays and 1 January: closed

This year, the City Council nativity scene depicts a journey through the events narrated in the Gospels of St. Luke and St. Matthew, with elements taken from the apocryphal gospels. This year’s tableau is also intended to present and pay tribute to the work of one of the greatest nativity scene craftsmen, José Luis Mayo Lebrija.

The sequence offered by the Madrid Association of Nativity Scene Makers begins with the Annunciation, with the Angel Gabriel appearing to the Virgin Mary at a public fountain, evoking the traditions of the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew and the Armenian Infancy Gospel, all in the shadow of Herod’s imposing castle. We then see Joseph and Mary arriving in Bethlehem in search of accommodation, only to be turned away by the innkeeper. The setting across from a caravanserai — a roadside inn of the time — allows the visitor to travel back in time and observe other travellers spending the night there. The next outdoor scene is the Annunciation to the Shepherds, who gather around a cave next to a sheep pen as the Angel gives them the glad tidings of the birth of Jesus.

Our tour continues with the great Three Kings Parade as they make their way to Bethlehem on their mission to honour the Baby Jesus. The nativity scene brings to mind a passage from the Gospel of St. Luke: “And she brought forth her firstborn son; and she wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger…”. We see Mary and Joseph standing beside the manger, surrounded by shepherds who have come to worship the child. The tableau ends with the Flight to Egypt: Joseph, Mary and the Baby Jesus make their way along a winding path, passing by a large waterfall, a lake and a river that merge into the landscape of the village of Bethlehem.

The nativity scene also includes such popular scenes as the mill and the miller, traditional craftsmen such as the carpenter and the blacksmith, and moments from everyday life at the time: the cook, the washerwoman, the fisherman - there’s even a lovely glimpse of a mother combing the lice out of her son’s hair.

All the scenes are the work of José Luis Mayo Lebrija, a sculptor from Toledo who has become a leading international exponent of the art of making nativity scenes. With a style marked by historic accuracy and exceptional artistic quality, Mayo is a prolific craftsman who knows how to capture the essence and symbolism of Christmas in all his figures.

Mayo first won the city’s Nativity Scene Figures Competition 40 years ago, and the exhibition of this particular nativity scene is the Madrid City Council’s way of celebrating the anniversary and paying tribute to this sculptor and master nativity scene maker. This unique tableau began to take shape in 2003 and was finally completed in 2006, comprising more than 200 Hebrew figures and 20 buildings, in which he synthesised his artistic and spiritual vision of the Christmas tradition.