Prizes for voting on Mijas' recycled-waste Christmas trees, decorated by local residents

A COSTA del Sol town's annual Christmas tree raffle is set to kick off on Wednesday this week, when 'community creations' are put to public vote.

Starting December 8 – a national holiday in Spain, when workplaces are closed and shops shut – the fruits of local labour will face a panel of judges; a panel made up of the entire population of Mijas (Málaga province).

'Ballots' will be drawn out of a hat and earn prizes, meaning votes cannot be anonymous.

Tourism councillor José Carlos Martín says: “After the year or two we've had, we need events like this to boost the local economy and attract visitors, who will, hopefully, enjoy our restaurants and shops.”

For weeks now, members of the public, the local retail and trade community, fiesta associations, clubs and societies, and the farming association La Alegría de la Huerta (which more or less translates as 'the joy of the allotment'), have been building 22 giant Christmas trees around Mijas using recycled waste, in different strategic points of the old town, and they are due to be unveiled and their lights switched on this weekend.

Residents, visitors and holiday-home owners – in fact, anyone passing through Mijas – can buy a leaflet for €1 detailing where to find all the trees and with pictures of them, to help them tour round and view them all.

They then tick boxes in the leaflet to mark the three they like best, fill in their name and contact details, and drop it off in a 'ballot-box' in the town-centre tourist information office, or in Bootelló pharmacy or Siete Caños parapharmacy.

All cash raised from the €1 leaflets sold will go to the charity chosen by the trader who owns the winning tree.

And all winning leaflets drawn from the hat will get fabulous prizes donated by the local business community – which could be, for example, items from their shops, vouchers to spend in store, a meal at their restaurants, and so on.

The draw takes place on January 5, 2022, meaning plenty of time for anyone living in or visiting Mijas to take part.

Although each different trade association premises sponsors or owns a Christmas tree, all 22 have been created with help from the general public, supplying household waste items suitable for use as decorations, or putting the parts together as a team.

La Alegría de la Huerta, urging as many people as possible to join the raffle, says: “Already, when we were setting the trees up, visitors were standing there watching and taking photos of us, because they were amazed at how we managed to get Christmas trees out of all this recyclable rubbish, and at how their creation reflected moments of real community solidarity and harmony.”

The scheme, now in its sixth year, is known as the 'Charity Christmas Tree Route', or Ruta de los Árboles Solidarios, for those who wish to ask about it at shops, bars or the tourist information office.