Oct 12 2007
New Year in Barcelona
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 ! 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.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odVjfrq0dwI&feature=related see how it happens with the grapes !
When it is 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.
This tradition started for the spanish people because one year when there was a big grape harvest and then the king of Spain decided to give grapes to everybody to eat on New Year’s Eve.
Many tourists come to celebrate New Year in Barcelona. Hiring a holiday apartment is very comfortable, you feel more like at home.
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.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzJS9br2rMY&feature=related video New Year 2007 in Barcelona at the Torre Agbar from the french architect Jean Nouvel.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIcjVJetMNw New Year 2008 in Barcelona Tower Agbar
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