The story of the most photographed balcony in Malaga this Christmas

In the center of Málaga, there is a building that never asked to be noticed. It has always been there, supporting the routines and schedules of the thousands of people who pass through its doors every day. It doesn't have its own name, but it doesn't need one. It is part of the landscape, in Plaza de Félix Sáenz, one of those places that exist without demanding attention, quietly fulfilling its purpose.

Over time, it has changed its skin. Its rehabilitation was completed in 2009, but the real change comes every Christmas. The building gets ready, as if opening the wardrobe and calmly choosing what to wear, it dresses up in finery. Lights, garlands, and luminous shapes make their appearance, occupying its balconies and cornices. They don’t demand attention, they offer it. They do not interrupt the passage of those who walk in front of it; they accompany them. Almost without realizing it, passersby look up, as if the building had whispered something to them.

"I started decorating it with just a few things in 2018," admits Juan Antonio Calle, the creative mind behind the decorations. "In 2021, my partner and I went with two friends to Basel, Alsace, and Stuttgart. It was in Alsace where they decorate the balconies, and in Strasbourg, there was a building decorated with bears, gift boxes, and Christmas balls. That's where the idea came from."

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Since 2022, the building's balconies began to fill with bears. It's not a replica, it's a starting point. Each year, Juan Antonio adds something more. The red and yellow curls arrived last year. This year, icicle lights that fall from the third floor were added to the decorations, as well as the luminous trees; isosceles triangles made with broomsticks.

But there is a reason that cannot be seen from the street. "My father passed away on November 26, 2020, during the second wave of COVID. Setting up the facade helps me to distract myself from the anniversary of his death," says Calle. "The date coincides with the lighting of the Christmas lights, so it helps me not to think about it."

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Each ornament is a gesture of continuity. Each figure on the balcony is a way to make the absence habitable. For a few weeks, the building stops being just a structure and becomes a refuge. "I have already bought the new additions for next year," says Juan Antonio with a laugh, "but it's still a surprise, only my family knows."

At Christmas, the building becomes a pause in the city. It does not aim to compete with the brightness or face the noise of the streets of Málaga; it simply remains lit. Its lights do not celebrate a specific date, but the persistence of small gestures, year after year.