{"id":54337,"date":"2017-12-26T15:39:37","date_gmt":"2017-12-26T14:39:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gogoespana.com\/?p=54337"},"modified":"2023-12-14T14:49:38","modified_gmt":"2023-12-14T13:49:38","slug":"las-doce-uvas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gogoespana.com\/en\/blog\/las-doce-uvas\/","title":{"rendered":"Las Doce Uvas – and 4 More Spanish New Year\u2019s Traditions"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cAnother year over, and a new one just begun\u201d, as John Lennon sings. Yes, it\u2019s nearly time to turn over a fresh leaf and start a brand new year. But, as we\u2019re not quite there yet, you\u2019ve still got plenty of time to prepare for the arrival of the new year, Spanish style. We\u2019ve got you covered with everything from traditions like \u201clas doce uvas<\/strong>\u201d to where to celebrate. <\/span><\/p>\n

The arrival of a new year is a lovely time to think what you\u2019ve achieved over the past year. You can also look forward to all the exciting things a new year can bring! <\/span><\/p>\n

To make sure you can enjoy the New Year like a local in Spain, we\u2019re going to introduce you to some of the traditions. Get ready to celebrate, because the festive season isn\u2019t over on New Year\u2019s in Spain! Here are some of our favorite New Year\u2019s traditions in Spain<\/strong>. <\/span><\/p>\n

Las doce uvas<\/b><\/h2>\n

\u201cLas doce uvas\u201d means \u201cthe twelve grapes\u201d. They are sometimes also called \u201cthe twelve grapes of luck\u201d. The tradition of las doce uvas dates back to the late 19th or early 20th century. It started with an unexpectedly good harvest, and some clever grape sellers who saw a great business opportunity. <\/span><\/p>\n

Today, the tradition states that you have to eat the twelve grapes<\/strong> exactly at midnight. For each strike of the clock, you eat one grape. As you can imagine, it\u2019s often not the most elegant process if you\u2019re a first-timer! That\u2019s why supermarkets frequently sell small tins of 12 grapes that come pre-peeled. You can also go for regular grapes, but be prepared with a napkin just in case! <\/span><\/p>\n

The las <\/strong>doce uvas tradition has since expanded to other Spanish-speaking countries all over the globe. New Year\u2019s Eve in Spanish is called \u201cNochevieja\u201d, or \u201cOld Night.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"las-doce-uvas\"<\/p>\n

Play the Christmas lottery <\/b><\/h3>\n

In offices all around Spain in late November and early December, workers start talking about lottery tickets. It\u2019s traditional for groups of coworkers or friends to go in together to buy a set of tickets. While playing the lottery might not be very common in your home country, tons of people participate in the Spanish one. The winning numbers are sung out on Christmas day by a boys\u2019 choir in Madrid. <\/span><\/p>\n

Celebrate in Puerta del Sol <\/b><\/h3>\n

The biggest countdown to the New Year in Spain<\/strong> is held in Madrid\u2019s iconic Puerta del Sol. Here, crowds gather to watch the clock strike 12 (and eat their lucky grapes, too!). If you\u2019re celebrating at someone\u2019s home, chances are good they\u2019ll have the live show of the countdown in Madrid! It\u2019s worth heading to Madrid to see the show. But if you won\u2019t be there, there are usually celebrations held at at the main square or city hall all over Spain. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"las-doce-uvas-spain\"<\/p>\n

Wear red underwear<\/b><\/h3>\n

To really make sure you get all the luck you can for the following year, you\u2019ve got to wear red underwear on New Year\u2019s Eve in Spain! It doesn\u2019t matter what it is – socks count, too – but ideally, it should be given to you for someone else. So, if somebody gives you red underwear for Christmas in Spain<\/strong>, now you know why! <\/span><\/p>\n

Keep the festivities going until January 6 <\/b><\/h3>\n

In Spain, the Christmas season isn\u2019t over until January 6 (Three Kings\u2019 Day in Spain,<\/strong> though in the English-speaking world we call this day Twelfth Night). You can enjoy parades and the last hurrah of the holiday season here. Traditionally, children receive gifts on January 6. After the 6th, it\u2019s officially back to work and school.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cAnother year over, and a new one just begun\u201d, as John Lennon sings. Yes, it\u2019s nearly time to turn over a fresh leaf and start a brand new year. But, as we\u2019re not quite there yet, you\u2019ve still got plenty of time to prepare for the arrival of the new year, Spanish style. We\u2019ve got […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":124,"featured_media":54352,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2048],"tags":[1602,1644,1685],"class_list":["post-54337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-experience-spain","tag-spain","tag-spanish-holidays","tag-spanish-traditions"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gogoespana.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gogoespana.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gogoespana.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gogoespana.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/124"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gogoespana.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54337"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gogoespana.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54337\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54357,"href":"https:\/\/gogoespana.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54337\/revisions\/54357"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gogoespana.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gogoespana.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gogoespana.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gogoespana.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}