After a two-year hiatus, the city of Murcia kicked off the Christmas celebrations in style, and there was no one fit to ignite the Great Christmas Tree than one of their own.
Carlos Alcaraz, a native of El Palmar, the most populated district in Murcia, lit up the night with one swing of the LED tennis ball inside the Circular Plaza to signal the start of the holiday festivities in this part of Spain.
The Great Christmas Tree is the region's most iconic festive decoration, and the crowd, comprised of young and old and reported as "tens of thousands," stood to mark this auspicious celebration.
This celebration was never observed in the past two years because of COVID-19 (2021) and contracting issues between the Murcia City Council and the decoration company (2022). But the city council was determined to bring back the show.
Alcaraz, who has just returned from a busy off-season schedule in Mexico, where he took part in a grand exhibition match with Tommy Paul and held tennis clinics for hotel guests, is set to begin his 2024 preparations at the Ferrero Tennis Academy.
He was introduced to the crowd amid a thunderous ovation and was given the honor of pulling off this unique stunt of lighting the tree. He spoke of his immense pride for being Murcia's most prominent tennis player.
"I feel very proud when they introduce me to courts like the Arthur Ashe, the largest in the world, and they say 'Carlos Alcaraz, from Murcia, Spain.' When I go somewhere, to China or any other country, in my team we usually joke that let's see how many Murcians we find."
A source on X (formerly Twitter) shared this moment in which Alcaraz met the Mayor of Murcia, who handed him a "Golden Papajote" before he signed a large tennis ball that will eventually be auctioned with proceeds going to charity.
"A magical stroke by Carlos Alcaraz returns the Great Christmas Tree to the people of Murcia. The tennis player from El Palmar has lit the Great Tree in the Circular Plaza by launching a luminous ball with an LED light racket."
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