CHINESE expats in Madrid started a fortnight's worth of celebrations to mark the New Year this weekend, with a colourful three-day parade ending last night (Sunday).
The largest hub of the capital's Chinese community is in the Usera neighbourhood, where over 800 performing artists and four huge inflatable dragons carried on poles filled the streets with colour to mark the start of the Year of the Rooster.
Given the size of the Chinese population in Usera, the epicentre of the New Year celebrations, the festivities have become part of the district's annual fiesta calendar with support and organisation by the council's culture and sports department.
Members of Usera council presented the complete festival programme in a press conference, the way most towns do with local and national Aspanish fiestas.
Live shows, theatre recounting Chinese legends and more modern tales, craft stalls, workshops, food tents, parades and music went on round the clock from Friday to Sunday, although the partying will not officially stop until Sunday, February 12.
All shows and events – 45 in total - were free of charge to enter.
Sunday culminated with the traditional 'light parade', where Asian wish lanterns were set free – an event which even had local schools designing features for the event and helping with the planning.
Usera culture councillor Rommy Arce says the Chinese New Year festivities in Madrid are a 'powerful event', as well as an 'excuse to build bridges between communities'.
The 'Chinese quarter' of Madrid alone is home to over 10,000 citizens of the gigantic Asian country, and tens of thousands more live in other neighbourhoods in the capital.
