- It will remain open until 5 January at Las Arenas Shopping Center, in the morning and afternoon
- For charity. Money raised will be distributed among various NGOs which help children on the island
- There will be a permanent new toy collection service for the Casa de Galicia until 1 January
The Fundación Cepsa Christmas House opened its doors this morning, this time on the first floor of the Las Arenas Shopping Center. This initiative by the Fundación Cepsa serves its original purpose: for families to use it as a meeting point with a Christmas theme, and also as a way of spreading solidarity.
This is the sixth year the Christmas House has opened its doors, and this time it was presented by the director of Cepsa in the Canary Islands, José Manuel Fernández-Sabugo. At the inauguration, he was accompanied by the Deputy Minister for Social Affairs and the Director General for Child and Family Protection of the Government of the Canary Islands and Carmen Morales, respectively; the Councillor for Social Policy and Accessibility of the Regional Council of Gran Canaria, Elena Máñez; the Councillor for Social Cohesion and Equality of the City Council of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Jacinto Ortega, and the Deputy Director of the Las Arenas Shopping Centre, Francisco Ramírez.
The HD Group has played an important part in this project, as it temporarily ceded a 500 square meter area, and also provided other logistics services in the Las Arenas Shopping Centre, without which this initiative would not have been possible.
The main objective of this project, which has the support of the City Council, the Island Council and the regional government, is focused on solidarity, as it has been in previous years. All the funds raised with sales of Christmas House admission tickets (at a symbolic price of 2 euros), will be distributed among various NGOs on the island that have programs specializing in children.
There will also be a campaign to collect new toys, which will be delivered on January 1 to the Casa de Galicia, and will then be handed out to the neediest children on the island. Various associations and disadvantaged groups will also be able to access the Christmas House free of charge throughout the festive period.
Other companies such as Galletas Bandama, KIA, Global, Obra Social ‘la Caixa’ and Gofios la Piña, have also taken part in this initiative and have helped to improve the quality of the project.
A very special sixth edition
Visitors will enter the Christmas House in groups of twenty people. Overall, over 20,000 people are expected to visit this unique and temporary space, which will remain open in the morning and afternoon, until January 5.
The sixth edition of the Fundación Cepsa Christmas House is the largest and most spectacular so far. In this large space, divided into various rooms, both children and adults feel like they are stepping into a world of fantasy. Each part has a story read by actors, and is decorated with all of sorts of details, made largely from recycled materials.
The common themes for the tour are Santa Claus, the importance of reading classic stories and the most famous contemporary children's characters. It all starts in Santa Claus's library, and then visitors will enter the fantastic landscapes of the Jungle Book, and then an Arab market. They will learn about the secrets of the star of Bethlehem and then visit the three Wise Men.
After that they will relive classic stories such as Aladdin, The Vain Little Mouse, Rapunzel, Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella. After which, children and adults will be thrilled to see some of the most popular Star Wars scenarios and characters, including a recreation of the Ewoks’ forest and village. Next, the tour continues through the snowy lands inhabited by the characters from Frozen. The tour ends with a chocolate and candy factory located in a city with flying sweets and with gift-laden cars, trains and pedestrians.