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In Spain December 31 is called Nochevieja and in Nochevieja there is 12 bells that ring and for every bell you eat a grape. If you eat all the 12 grapes you will recieve good luck for the next year and they also call grapes the fruit of life. The bell also rings 4 times to announce that you need to get ready to eat your grapes. In Puerta Del Sol they have a bell that drops before midnight and you can watch the countdown on television most channels start broadcasting the bell.

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Eating grapes on New Year's Eve, traditions in Spain

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Did you know the reason you eat 12 grapes everytime the bell rings in Spain is because back in 1909 Spain had a excellent harvest of grapes and there is one story that says the king of Spain had so much grapes he gave everyone 12 grapes for new years eve hence the tradition. And if you finish all the 12 grapes in time you will get 12 months of good luck. After the 12 campanadas everyone leaves to go party. Some people are kind enough to hand out some free food.

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New Year’s Eve in Spain | CRAZY TRADITION!

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Spain has some of the weirdest traditions I've seen one of them is wearing red underwear for love which is so confusing. Also another tradition Spain likes to do is eat lentils because it helps with hangovers and it's said to be good luck. Another tradition is toasting with cava, cava is made in Spain and for prosperity you drop a gold item in your cava.  After all that partying Spain ends their night on churros and hot chocolate so they can make it home to bed.

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In Spain, the unique customs and traditions don't stop when Christmas ends. They continue right into the New Year. From eating twelve grapes (just like the Italians) to dropping gold into cava, the Spanish have lots of interesting ways of welcoming in the New Year. So, whether you are brushing up for a trip to the Iberian Peninsula or you are just curious, here are some unique New Year's traditions in Spain.

7 Spanish New Year's Traditions

1. Wear red underwear for love

In the run-up to New Year's Eve - called nochevieja, meaning old night - lots of stores in Spain start advertising red underwear. If one of your new year resolutions is to find love, then tradition dictates that you should wear red underwear on New Year's Eve as Cupid will be able to find you easier to bring you love. Some say that this will only work if the red underwear was and gift and others believe that you need to give away the underwear before daybreak for the luck to really work.

2. Dine on lentils

Traditionally, the main dish on Año Nuevo (New Year's Day) in Spain is lentils. Not only are lentils good for curing a hangover, but they are also said to bring good luck and fortune due to their coin-like shape. The Spanish usually, eat lentils in a stew with chorizo.

3. Eating twelve grapes

When the clock strikes midnight on New Year's Eve, the Spanish eat twelve grapes. One for each month of the year. However, you must pop the whole grape in your mouth, one at each stroke of the clock. This is no mean feat! Shops sell small, seedless grapes, especially for this occasion.

4. Toasting with cava

Cava is a sparkling wine made in Spain and is used to toast the New Year. However, to make this toast even more special it is tradition to put a gold object into the glass before drinking. The Spanish believe this brings extra prosperity. Most people drop in a gold ring or coin. However, if you are looking for love and not prosperity in the new year, then drop in a red fruit such as a strawberry or raspberry.

5. Square dancing

In the big cities in Spain, people gather in the plaza central (main square) to ring in the New Year. In Madrid, people congregate in the Puerta del Sol and in Barcelona they gather in Plaça España. Here you'll see the Spanish eating the twelve grapes as the clock strikes midnight and then the dancing starts. Revellers dance the night away until the early hours of the morning.

6. Hot chocolate nightcap

Many Spanish end their New Year's Eve celebrations with traditional hot chocolate and churros. This provides a boost of energy so they can make it home to bed! This is one of the most delicious New Year's traditions in Spain!

7. Starting the New Year on the right foot

Spanish tradition says that you literally have to start the year off on the right foot. Therefore, the first step that you take after the clock strikes midnight should be with your right foot. By putting your right foot forward first, you are on the way to attracting love, fortune and luck in the new year.

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7 New Year's Traditions in Spain - Big 7 Travel

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In Spain, the unique customs and traditions don't stop when Christmas ends. They continue right into the New Year. From eating twelve grapes (just like the Italians) to dropping gold into cava, the Spanish have lots of interesting ways of welcoming in the New Year.

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In Spain there are 12 bells that are called the 12 campanadas  but they only ring after midnight which is pretty anti climatic. If you decide to go out most places will give you a "bolsa de cotillon" which is like a bag with party favors. Most restaurants will change their menu for nochevieja (new years) It's actually uncommon for restaurants to charge high prices for their menu. If you would like to save your money you can celebrate in a town square most towns have them and they'll often you grapes.

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New Year's traditions in Spain include eating twelve grapes at midnight or wearing red underwear. They are meant to assure you luck and prosperity during the new year.

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It's hard to believe that by now I have celebrated over 15 New Year's Eves here in Spain!

Celebrating the new year in Spain shares many similarities to New Year's Eve celebrations in the United States and other parts of the world. That said, some quirky New Year's traditions set Spain apart.

The Twelve Campanadas at Midnight

Just as you can watch the celebration of the New Year in Times Square in the US, in Spain you can watch the ball fall at midnight at the Puerta del Sol in Madrid.

Right after the falling of the ball, Spain rings in the new year with 12 rings of the bell in the Post office clock tower. These "campanadas" sound during what most people think are the last twelve seconds of the old year.

But are they really the last 12 seconds!?!?

The Clock Tower of the Puerta del Sol

The timing of the bells

I was shocked and a little bit disappointed to learn that the twelve campanadas that welcome in the new year don't actually occur until midnight, after the new year has already begun! It's a bit anti-climatic once you realize that.

Not only do the 12 campanadas start later than what most people think, but they last longer too. Rather than sounding every second, one ring of the bell sounds approximately every 3 seconds. This gives Spaniards just enough time to eat one grape with each of them! (More about that in a second.)

Televised mistakes

Many tv stations televise the campanadas. This allows people all over Spain to watch this official announcement of the beginning of the new year. While most tv stations do a pretty good job of explaining the complex bell system, some have been known to make big mistakes.

Before the twelve campanadas sound, 4 dings of the bell known as the "cuartos" or fourths warn of their coming.

There have been instances of confused announcers telling people to eat their grapes too early, thinking the cuartos are the campanadas. Other times, they have had people eat their grapes 4 bells too late. When they don't hear the cuartos, they mistakenly think the first 4 campanadas are those warning rings. (I wonder how unlucky people were those years?)

One year a Southern channel accidentally cut out to a commercial during the cuartos and the first 9 bells, much to the bewilderment of those watching and waiting.

Watch some Campanadas "fails"

In summary, when you celebrate the new year here in Spain, you actually end up wishing everybody a Happy New Year almost a minute after you've entered into the new year!

12 Lucky Grapes

Another quirky New Year tradition in Spain is to eat 12 "lucky" grapes, one when each of the 12 campanadas sounds. The eating of the twelve grapes symbolizes the twelve months of the year.

If you aren't able to finish eating your 12 grapes by the twelfth campanada, it is said that you won't have a lucky new year.

The grapes reserved for bringing in the new year are usually small and green. In Spain, it hasn't been common to find seedless grapes until just recently. Even now, most grapes sold have seeds.

That's why many (most?) people spend the last minutes of the year preparing their grapes by removing the seeds and making sure they have exactly 12 grapes prepared. Some people even peel their grapes. (Peeling almost all fruits from apples and peaches to even grapes is quite common here.)

Those that don't want to bother with all of that can buy canned, peeled and deseeded grapes in syrup sold perfectly prepped for your celebration. (You can probably guess that canned grapes aren't really my thing.)

Eating the twelve grapes during the sounding of the bells may not be as lucky as one would think. People have been known to choke on them! So, if you plan on following the tradition, please be careful! 😉

Red Underwear

If you want to make sure things go well and that you get your grapes down in time, perhaps you should look to another tradition sure to bring you luck.

Bringing in the New Year wearing red underwear is another New Year's tradition popular in Spain. If somebody has given you said red underwear as a gift, that's even luckier!

I used to receive red underwear each year for Christmas from my in-laws until, perhaps, they reconsidered the strange gift. (Are they too sexy? Too grandma-ish? hmmm) That said, it isn't unusual to find red panties and briefs rolled into clear plastic ornaments or nice velvet pouches, ready for Christmas gift-giving.

Toasting with Cava

To help wash down the lucky green grapes, most people bring in the new year with a sip of cava. Cava is a Spanish sparkling wine made in the same way as Champagne, but using local Spanish grapes. Most Spanish cavas come from the Catalonia region.

Those who don't like cava may choose to bring in the new year with sidra (hard cider) instead. Most cider in Spain comes from the Northern province of Asturias.

We brought in 2020 with a homemade lemon champagne sorbet. (Find the recipe below.)

Check out this recipe

For another cava-based cocktail, consider trying "agua de Valencia."

Check out this recipe

Cotillón

If you decide to go out to dinner to celebrate the coming of the new year, most places will give you a " bolsa de cotillón " along with your grapes and cava.

Cotillón refers to the fun party favors used to celebrate the holiday. The fun bags include everything from masks and wigs to noisemakers, leis, and paper streamers or confetti.

If you choose to stay in for the night, you can buy yourself a cotillion bag at any of your local supermarkets or "chinos" (Spain's alternative to Dollar stores)!

Restaurants here in Spain usually have a special set menu for nochevieja (New Year's Eve). The special dinner has a set price that may or may not include an open bar and/or entertainment.

It isn't uncommon for even mediocre restaurants to charge high prices for their New Year's Eve dinner. Many restaurants charge around 100 Euros per person (or more) for those special menus.

Town Square Celebrations

If you prefer to save your money and don't mind hanging out in the cold, most cities host a celebration of their own in one of the town squares. In these celebrations, they normally broadcast the 12 campanadas of the Puerta del Sol on large screens. Usually, towns choose a large plaza with a church and/or a bell. Many towns even offer free grapes to those who celebrate there.

For those who want to bring in the new year with lots of friendly company, these town square celebrations are a great option. Don't be surprised, though, if strangers wish you a Feliz Año Nuevo. They may even exchange kisses with you, as is customary here.

Nochevieja Universitaria

If you want the feel of the New Year, but aren't here in Spain quite so late in the year, you can get a feeling for it at the special university new year celebration in early December.

What started in 1999 as a few students from the Universidad de Salamanca getting together to celebrate together when their classes ended for the year, has now become a tradition that draws in thousands and thousands of young people each year. Spain knows how to make a huge fiesta out of just about anything, and they do it well.

Rather than bringing in the " Nochevieja Universitaria " with twelve grapes, you can find special bags of 12 grape flavored "gominolas" (gummy candies). It has become well organized with special transportation and lodging packages available for those who want to join in on the fun.

Update Information

This post was originally published on January 1st, 2016. It was republished with new information and new links, on January 1, 2020.

I hope you enjoyed learning a little more about how New Year's Eve is celebrated in Spain. We are also still celebrating the twelve days of Christmas here so the festivities continue until Three King's Day on January 6th!

Happy New Year to all of you!

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New Year's traditions in Spain include eating twelve grapes at midnight or wearing red underwear. They are meant to assure you luck and prosperity during the new year. Pin this post for later! It's hard to believe that by now I have celebrated over 15 New Year's Eves here in Spain!

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One of the biggest traditions in Spain is nueva ropa which is new clothes, on new years eve it's traditional to wear new clothes you can also wear new underwear if you wear yellow you attract money if you wear red you attract love. When the new year starts it's normal to have a toast and in this toast you can put a gold item if you want to attract money. Doce uvas is another tradition were you eat 12 grapes everytime the bell rings and it does not have any religious or cultural motivations it's actually economical.

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If you visit Madrid's town square for new years eve you will see a lot of hat colorful hats and masks and each year they have a different color like in 2017 it was blue. Madrid also has artificial fires that happen at the roof of the city hall. In Madrid they don't have singers for new years they just gather in the town square. Madrid is nicknamed the city that never sleeps because after partying at the town square there is parties that start right after.