If you are spending New Year’s Eve on the island it’s a good idea to get into the Spanish traditions: when in Ibiza…
You’ll also want to know how things are done here, so you don’t feel like a lemon at midnight in a town square or on the dance floor in Pacha on your own.
New Year’s Eve across Spain is done differently: you start with a no-expense-spared family dinner where traditionally everyone dresses up to the nines to look their very best. The women will have had their hair done and be wearing their very best outfit, often purchased especially for the event; the men wear suits and sometimes dinner jackets.
Then there’s the eating of the “12 grapes of luck”, a tradition which goes back well over a hundred years. As the bell strikes midnight, on each ring you eat a grape, and when you swallow you make a wish for each little globe that passes your throat. If you're lucky, your 12 gifts will come to you through the year.
Each town across the island will be holding their own public events that usually start at half past midnight and carries on till the early hours the next morning. Everyone will be still wearing their best toggs and will be partying on till breakfast when churros and hot chocolate is the usual early morning fare.
These days you can rock up in jeans to these public events, where there will be a big marquee with live music and much dancing. The key is to make sure you have somewhere to go for dinner and to ring in the New Year first. Many restaurants are offering New Year’s dinners, priced at around €100 per person, though do make sure you book ahead. If you are going to a club, expect everyone to start arriving from 2am onwards.
So, go and dip into New Year’s Eve Spanish style. Here’s a selection of events in the main town, though do remember that each place will be doing its own thing.
Public New Year’s Eve events
In Ibiza Town
12.30pm in Vara de Rey
In San Antonio
12.30pm in Passeig de Ses Fonts
Estudio 64 in Calle San Juan
WORDS: Julian Heathcote
