Comida, cultura, lengua y viajes — Food, culture, language, and travel!

With 2012 drawing to a close and the whole world getting ready for 2013, I thought I would share what we are planning to do to waiting to ring in the new year, and some of the distinct traditions as well.  During new year's, known as nochevieja, like many other holidays in Spain, family plays an important part of the celebration. Well before midnight, everyone arrives to have dinner and talk about what plans they have for the new year, what resolutions they have, and to express hope for an even better year to come. The following are a few Spanish new year's customs, some of which sound pretty familiar, and some that differ from what we may associate with a traditional new year's celebration:


1. You have to wear a pair of new, red underwear. Not only that, but it has to be gifted to you... That's the only way you can expect to have good luck in 2013!


2. Tune the TV to watch the countdown. In Spain, everyone tunes into a live feed of the Puerta del sol in Madrid to watch the clock tower on top of the offices of the Spanish postal service. Puerta del sol is an important place, as it's at the very heart of the Spanish capital, and is also Kilometer Zero from which Spanish roads radiate outward to the fringes of the county. When midnight is close, a special chime plays, and the quarter bells ring right before the clock strikes twelve. Everyone stands at attention at the quarter bells because of the next tradition...

3. The twelve grapes. When the clock starts to chime twelve times to mark midnight, for every bell-strike, a grape must be eaten. This can be a challenge for young and old alike, as they must be eaten in quick succession. Each grape signifies good luck for each of the twelve months of the new year. This traditions stretches all the way back to 1909, when grape farmers creatively devised a way to be rid of the season's produce surplus., and fortunately for them, it stuck.

4. Cheers with champagne. Not an unfamiliar tradition to most; bottles of Cava are popped open to toast to another year having come and gone.




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