New year’s eve is called NOCHE VIEJA .
First of all, very important : men and women wear Red underwear !
For many years, Spanish people have had the custom to celebrate New Year’s Eve with grapes ! This event is called “Campanadas”. On the last day of the year, the 31st of December , they wait until 12 p.m. Everybody has to have twelve grapes ready to eat when the clock starts to chime. They listen to the clock from Puerta del Sol in Madrid on TV or on radio.
Go to the Plaza Catalunya in Barcelona to enjoy the traditions of the campanadas with many people.
Watch this video and see how it happens with the grapes !
At midnight, each time the clock chimes, they put a grape in their mouth. By the time the clock has finished chiming, everybody has to have finished his grapes then New Year starts, but nobody finishes eating the grapes on time.
Eating the grapes is a lot of fun because everybody starts the New Year with a full mouthful of grapes. It is not possible to finish eating the grapes by the time the clock finishes chiming. Normally people still have all the grapes in their mouths, and they start looking at each other and have to laugh.
You can imagine what would happen if they laughed with grapes in mouth. It is really difficult to have one minute to eat and swallow each grape. You can buy small cans with 12 grapes (Uvas de la Suerte) in supermarkets in Barcelona. They usually get sold by 3 cans. Grapes are peeled and unseeded. A lot easier to eat.
This tradition started for the spanish people because one year there was a big grape harvest and the king of Spain decided to give grapes to everybody to eat on New Year’s Eve.
Many tourists come to celebrate New Year. Renting apartments in barcelona is very comfortable, you feel more like at home.
On Plaza de la Catedral, the yearly Santa Llucia fair is a lovely market to visit. Here you will find many Christmas decoration. If you would like to buy a tipical Catalan tradition you have to buy a ´Caganer´.
At New Year, spanish people drink CAVA (kind of a champagne). There are some Cava places through Barcelona, you do only drink cava with tapas.
Very Good CAVA : Cava Recadero Brut Nature Gran Reserva , cava from Barcelona area – Alt Penedes
Website Recadero Cava
video New Year 2007 in Barcelona at the Torre Agbar from the french architect Jean Nouvel.
Torre Agbar means the tower for the water company (agua) in Barcelona.This building has numerous comical nicknames, such as “el supositori” (the suppository). The building is rather stunning at night when it is illuminated by various coloured lights.
New Year 2008 in Barcelona Tower Agbar
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