“The night is swept from the earth.”

Words exclaimed by the librarian in the novel The Magic Spark by Armando Cotarelo Valledor upon seeing electric light in the city of Compostela for the first time (2 April 1851).

Lighting in Santiago evolved from the Medieval and Modern Ages, when darkness characterised the nocturnal atmosphere and the small streets, roads, and squares of Compostela were only illuminated by patrol torches and chapel candles, to the present day, where different layers of functional, ornamental, and commercial urban lighting coexist, multiplying the possibilities for cultural, productive, and recreational activities.

In the late first quarter of the 19th century, oil lanterns began to be installed. This lighting technology was progressively and slowly replaced from the last third of the century by hydrogen gas lamps. In 1851, Antonio Casares Rodríguez conducted a pioneering experiment with electricity in Spain, which did not have a practical impact on its popular adoption. In fact, it only managed to develop and be applied as a public service at the dawn of the 20th century.

It is precisely throughout this century and into the 21st century that, under the improvement of electric and LED lighting technology, the greatest advances have been recorded, allowing for the conception of global projects for public, artistic, and ornamental lighting, increasing the levels of reliability and quality of the service, extending it to neighbourhoods and rural areas, and changing, as a whole, the visual perceptions and relationships of the general urban context of Compostela.