New Year’s Eve is one of the most special nights in Spain, where a family celebration ends, especially among young people, in a party until dawn. 

It is a date full of traditions: the 12 grapes, a ring in the champagne glass, a new outfit… but the red color on your lingerie is, without a doubt, the one that is gaining strength year after year.

Red Underwear.

The colour red is said to represent luck, and it’s a must in your most intimate wardrobe if you want to make sure that everything is going to go well in the new year. Besides, it is the colour of passion and love, so if we want this not to be lacking in the coming year, we must not forget to put something red in our underwear.

Although the origin of this tradition is uncertain, it seems to have come from the Middle Ages, a time that was full of prohibitions, mainly for the lower classes. The colour red was formerly associated with the devil and witchcraft, and it was even forbidden to wear it on clothing.

And since it was forbidden, to avoid it being appreciable at first sight, they chose to use it in their underwear.

So you know, if you want a 2020 full of love and prosperity, don’t forget to wear your red underwear. The tradition, which has been maintained ever since, also says that it will increase its effect if someone gives it to you.

The banquet

The Spaniards end the year with a hearty and succulent meal.
During this dinner most of the families follow the idea that the more, the better. Suckling pig, turkey and roast lamb are a classic, as well as baked sea bream and red cabbage with pine nuts. As an aperitif there is no lack of prawns or smoked salmon. With the desserts come endless trays of Christmas sweets such as marzipan, polvorones and nougat.

The lucky grapes.

For each of the last 12 seconds of the year you have to eat a grape. There are people who remove the skin or seeds to facilitate a ceremony that in every family ends with laughter, coughs and mouths swollen with the pulp of this fruit. The origin dates back to 1909, when due to an over production, wine growers gave away grapes to the citizens and spread the idea that eating them would bring fortune for the new year.

The 12 bells are transmitted live from the Puerta del Sol in Madrid, where up to 20,000 people gather to experience this moment live, defying the cold, wind or rain. All the television channels have famous presenters. So one issue to decide on as a family is which channel to watch each year, a topic that always brings up some generational discussion…haha.

Other superstitions say that you should put a gold ring in the glass with which you are going to to toast, be it champagne or sparkling wine. When the bells end at midnight it is obligatory to kiss all the people around…and not less important is to enter in 2020 with the right foot, to erase the bad thing and to begin the year with good sensations.

On the 1st of January Spain comes to a standstill, shops close and many people stay at home resting to recover from the big party, until lunchtime, which is also usual that people go out to eat.

So we wish you all a great night, with Spanish traditions or from the country you like best. 
But always a night with love, affection and fun.
And remember, the best is yet to come!