For one specific hour each year, millions of people around the world decide turn off the lights in their homes and most emblematic buildings To send a common message: the fight against climate change and biodiversity loss cannot wait. In Spain, municipalities large and small are once again joining this global event promoted by WWF, which is now celebrating two decades.
In its 20th edition, Earth Hour presents itself as much more than a simple symbolic blackoutThe gesture of plunging squares, monuments, and corporate headquarters into darkness is combined with awareness campaigns, environmental commitments and parallel activities that seek to remind us that nature is the life support system on which our quality of life and that of future generations depends.
What is Earth Hour and why is it celebrated?
The initiative originated in Sydney in 2007 as a citizen action It was simple: turn off the lights of buildings and monuments for sixty minutes to draw attention to climate change. That initial experiment has, over the years, grown into what many consider the largest global environmental movement, with participation in nearly 200 countries.
Today, the proposal remains just as clear: From 20:30 p.m. to 21:30 p.m., on Saturday, March 28Households, businesses, administrations and educational centers are invited to join turning off non-essential lights and electrical appliancesThe aim is to demonstrate that small gestures, coordinated on a large scale, can have a strong symbolic impact and serve as a megaphone to governments and decision-makers.
WWF, the organization promoting the campaign internationally, reminds us that Nature provides us with air, water, and food that we need every day, but it is under increasing pressure from global warming, ecosystem degradation and the loss of speciesIn this context, Earth Hour is presented as a collective reminder that the planet is our common home.
In this twentieth edition, the motto adopted in Spain and other European countries —“20 editions. 20 successes”— It focuses on the achievements made in these two decades of social mobilization: progress in climate agreements, expansion of protected areas, restoration projects and recovery of emblematic species, including the Iberian lynx.
An anniversary marked by the climate emergency
Despite these advances, WWF warns that The climate crisis continues to accelerateThe organization points out that the planet has already warmed by around 1,1°C compared to pre-industrial levels and that the 1,5°C threshold could be reached in the next decade if mitigation measures are not intensified.
This temperature increase is resulting in increasingly frequent extreme weather eventsFloods, prolonged heat waves, severe droughts, or intense forest fires. In Mediterranean countries like Spain, these impacts are felt particularly harshly, with episodes of torrential rain, increasingly longer summers, and greater pressure on water resources.
WWF insists that this decade must become a real turning pointTo achieve this, it calls for greater speed and ambition in the emission reductionEarth Hour is thus presented as an annual call to remain vigilant and protect biodiversity, and to transition towards more sustainable production and consumption models.
The organization itself emphasizes that, in a context of global uncertainty, It is also important to highlight the reasons for hopeAmong the milestones highlighted on this 20th anniversary are, for example, the progress towards the recovery of the ozone layer, the expansion of marine protected areas, and the promotion of renewable energies in numerous European countries.
Spanish cities going dark due to the climate
In Spain, the call for applications on March 28th once again includes the support of hundreds of municipalities, which will turn off part of the lighting of public buildingsMonuments and iconic streets. Municipalities of all sizes have announced their participation to visibly remind everyone of the urgency of taking action in the face of the climate emergency.
In urban areas, voluntary blackouts have spread from from large capital cities to medium and small townsEach one adapts the initiative to their own reality, well reducing the lighting in central squareseither by turning off institutional facades or ornamental fountains, always with the premise of not compromising citizen security.
WWF Spain encourages local corporations to use Earth Hour as loudspeaker for their own environmental policies, Since the energy efficiency in municipal buildings including the commitment to renewable energies or the improvement of urban green spaces.
At the same time, citizens are invited to participate from home, reducing their energy consumption during that time and adopting more sustainable daily habits that can be maintained throughout the year, such as the rational use of electricity, active mobility or responsible consumption.
Symbolic blackouts in municipalities across Spain
Among the towns that have confirmed their participation, Chiclana stands out, maintaining a continued commitment to disseminating the campaignThe municipality of Cádiz will turn off, among others, the Hermitage of Santa Ana, the parish of San Juan Bautista, the Bridge and the Fountain of the VII Centenary, the church of San Telmo, the convent of Nuestro Padre Jesús Nazareno, the Chiclana Museum and the Clock Arch.
Local authorities have made rough calculations to illustrate the potential impact of community involvement: if all households in the municipality joined the blackoutThe savings could be around 22.000 kWh in that hour, avoiding the emission of about 12 tons of CO2, an amount of carbon dioxide whose absorption equivalent would be around the capacity of several hundred trees.
Alicante will also join the event by turning off the lighting of Seneca Square and the exterior lights of Santa Bárbara Castle. The city thus joins the chain of historic sites that will be plunged into darkness to underscore the need to protect the climate and ecosystems upon which both the well-being of the population and key economic activities depend.
In Daimiel, the city council has joined this global campaign promoted by WWF for another year. encouraging governments, businesses and individuals to show their commitment against climate change. Under the slogan “Turn off the lights. Defend the planet”, the city council invites the population to participate in the blackout from 20:30 p.m. to 21:30 p.m. and to extend that commitment with more sustainable lifestyle habits.
The Sevillian town of La Rinconada will also confirm its participation by turning off the lights of municipal buildings and landmarkssuch as the Town Hall, the Deputy Mayor's Office, the Town Cultural Center, the Water Reservoir, and the Juan Pérez Mercader Training Center. The Environment Delegate emphasized that such a simple gesture as turning off the lights for one hour sends a clear message of respect for nature and shared responsibility.
The example of Fuenlabrada, Barberà del Vallès, l'Eliana and Zaragoza
In the Community of Madrid, Fuenlabrada will once again join this global mobilization turning off part of the street lighting on 26 streets and 12 ornamental fountains. The time slot will be the same, from 20:30 p.m. to 21:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 28, with a setup that will alternate streetlights to avoid compromising road safety.
With this partial blackout, the city council anticipates avoid the emission of more than 200 kilos of CO2 and save around 800 kWh of electricity in just one hour. The Department of Environment and Sustainability points out that this is a symbolic gesture integrated into a broader strategy, which includes the gradual replacement of streetlights with LED technology, a review of lighting schedules in municipal buildings, and a commitment to ensuring that a significant portion of the energy consumed comes from renewable sources.
In Catalonia, Barberà del Vallès joins the global call once again with the shutdown of some of its most representative pointsThese include the facade of the City Hall, the low lampposts of the Doctor Moragas promenade or the lighting of the tower in Can Serra park, which will be left in darkness during the Earth Hour period.
The campaign in Barberà del Vallès also emphasizes the social and educational dimension of the initiative, inviting the population to share pictures of your favorite natural spots on social media with hashtags like #EarthHour or #20editions20hits, with the idea of highlighting the fragility of ecosystems and the need to conserve them among all people.
In the Valencian Community, the City Council of l'Eliana will renew its commitment to Earth Hour with the the area around the town hall turned offThis includes the façade and lighting of Plaça del País Valencià, as well as several streets in the city center. The municipality frames this action within a broader strategy to combat climate change and adapt to impacts such as heat waves, droughts, and torrential rain events.
Zaragoza, for its part, will maintain its participation in this international commemoration turning off the ornamental lighting of the Town Hall and the ExchangeThis includes the interior lighting of the towers of the Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar and the altarpiece by Pablo Serrano. Additionally, the lighting in the Plaza del Pilar will be reduced, and the digital facade of Etopia, along with other municipal buildings related to water and the environment, will be switched off.
Participation of companies and media
The involvement of the business sector in Earth Hour has been strengthening over the years, with companies taking on public commitments to reduce emissions and awareness campaigns for their staff and customers. Some organizations are turning off the lights at their flagship headquarters and offices in various countries, while many others are joining in with information campaigns and internal activities.
In the media sector, communication and entertainment platforms collaborate as partners in disseminating the environmental messageThrough special programming, documentaries about ecosystems at risk, or pieces dedicated to the climate emergency, they contribute to the campaign reaching a wider and more diverse audience, reinforcing its social reach.
In parallel, business groups have been incorporating own climate roadmapsThese measures include reducing emissions across the entire value chain, sourcing electricity from renewable sources, and developing services that help other organizations reduce their carbon footprint. These steps align with long-term goals such as achieving net-zero emissions in the coming decades.
This link between Earth Hour and long-term corporate action seeks to show that the annual event is not an isolated gesture, but a periodic reminder of commitments that must be kept throughout the yearParticipating companies often use this date to report on their progress, publish emissions reduction data, or present new sustainability plans.
The collaboration of media outlets, government agencies, and private companies helps the Earth Hour message resonate more deeply, emphasizing that The ecological transition requires a joint effort and that every actor — from a small local business to a large corporation — has a role to play.
A collective gesture that encourages a change in habits.
The campaign organizers insist that the one-hour blackout is not intended to solve the problem of climate change on its ownbut rather to serve as a spark for deeper changes. Each edition is used to launch messages related to energy saving, to the sustainable mobilityto responsible consumption or to the importance of conserving ecosystems.
For cities, Earth Hour represents an opportunity to Strengthening the link between public policies and citizen participationMany city councils accompany the blackout with informative talks, educational activities, social media challenges or volunteer initiatives, with the aim of keeping the debate alive about what kind of urban model we want to build.
In homes, the proposal involves turning this hour into a moment of conscious electrical disconnectionDinner by candlelight, conversation without screens, enjoying a break from the usual routine, and, incidentally, reflecting on daily energy use. This brief respite can provide an opportunity to review bills. replace light bulbs with more efficient ones or rethink consumption habits.
From the perspective of WWF and the participating municipalities, the important thing is that the symbol gradually translates into real transformations in the way we produce, move around and consumeThe climate emergency and the loss of biodiversity demand structural changes, but also thousands of individual decisions every day that add up in the same direction.
Twenty years after its inception, Earth Hour has established itself as an annual event in which Spain and Europe go dark for sixty minutes To remind us that time to act is limited. While cities, businesses, and citizens are once again coordinating to plunge streets and monuments into darkness, the underlying message remains unchanged: every action counts, and the sum of millions of small gestures can make all the difference in the race against the climate emergency.
