LED lights: The Hero, the Pope and Enel’s light

It is difficult for an inhabitant of Latin America to remain indifferent when the name Simón Bolívar is mentioned. And this is particularly true in the countries that owe their independence to the Libertador, such as Colombia. In its capital Bogotá, the main park is dedicated to the national hero, and is just one of the countless tributes that have been paid to him in South America and beyond.

Therefore the Colombians, but also all Latin Americans, will be delighted to learn that thanks to the Enel Group’s smart solutions, Parque Simón Bolívar has now acquired a new splendour and has extended its open hours to the public. The LED technology has finally given the park modern and pleasant lighting which makes it possible for the citizens to enjoy the greenery with open hours that have been extended to 23.00.

A Great Central Park

The Simón Bolívar Park in the centre of Bogotá is the city’s most important green space: it has an area of about 400 hectares, or 4 square kilometres. For the sake of comparison, it is bigger than New York’s Central Park with an area of 340 hectares. It has been estimated that the park could hold 550,000 people at the same time (slightly less than the entire population of a city like Genoa).

It is considered the city's lung thanks to its rich vegetation, but is also the city’s venue for cultural, recreational and sporting events. In fact, among other initiatives it hosts rock concerts and those of other musical genres, summer festivals and football club celebrations. What has been missing up to now was a modern and efficient public lighting system.

A Worthy Welcome for Pope Francis

The operations were managed by Codensa, the Enel Group company operating in Colombia with 3.3 million customers, a penetration of over 20% of the national market and exclusive management of the entire capital area.

The occasion for the start of the modernisation works was Pope Francis’s visit to Parque Simón Bolívar last September (Bergoglio is the third pontiff to visit the park after Paul VI in 1968 and John Paul II in 1986): the immediate goal - fully achieved - was to ensure the Pope the hospitality he deserved and provide adequate accommodation for the hundreds of thousands of people who came to the park to see and listen to him. It is therefore also thanks to us if the South American hero welcomed the first Latin American Pope in history in the best possible way. And of course, the efficiency measures will remain at the service of the citizens for much longer to come.