Real Madrid participates in Earth Hour

The annual Earth Hour, promoted by the World Wildlife Fund , took place last Saturday 26 March to take a stand against the climate change. Real Madrid wanted to join this initiative and the lights of the Santiago Bernabeu stadium were shut off for one hour between 20:30 and 21:30.

The Earth Hour is the largest global initiative to protect our environment and it has been followed by millions of citizens, businesses and governments from different points of world – this year by hundreds of buildings in 4,500 cities in 135 countries. This annual campaign started in Sydney, Australia in 2007 and it was designed to make people aware of the terrible effects of global warming and CO2 emissions.

Turning off the lights is a symbol of the fight against climate change which affects everybody and everywhere. Nobody is exempt and can escape from the global warming. It is a global phenomenon against which we all must fight.

Therefore, the most emblematic buildings and monuments in Spain made their contribution to the campaign and had no lighting power during that hour. The Government of Madrid turned off lights illuminating Cibeles, the Royal Palace and Escorial Palace amongst others.

Real Madrid wanted also to do its bit in the campaign and switched off its stadium's facade lights, including the billboard with the stadium's name and the Club's centenary dates, which are lit every winter day between 19:00 and 24:00. Lights directed at the pitch, which are lit for Stadium Tour visitors and restaurant clients, were also turned off.

30,000 watts on facade lighting and 16,000 watts on pitch light energy were saved after taken part in the Earth Hour.