The Nativity Scene of the Madrid City Council pays tribute to what was done by Saint Francis of Assisi on December 25, 1223, in Greccio, Italy: “To make memory more naturally of that divine Child and the discomforts he suffered when he was reclined in a manger and placed on wet straw next to an ox and a donkey”, in the words of the friar and chronicler Tomás de Celano.

In this year 2023, the first in which the Ministry of Culture and Sports declares “assembling the Nativity Scene” Representative Manifestation of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Spain, the Nativity Scene of the City Council commemorates the eighth centenary of the beginning of this tradition. It does so in the CentroCentro operations yard, in a circular setting that allows an excellent overview. It consists of two hundred Hebrew-style figures—those that correspond to the customs and clothing of the years of Jesus—and twenty constructions and plant elements, all original by the master nativity scene maker José Luis Mayo.

November 23, from 4 to 7 p.m. [last pass] From November 24 to January 4, from 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. [last pass] December 24 and 31 and January 5, from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. [last pass] ] Monday, December 25 and January 1, closed Shifts every 30 minutes