Bérchules, tucked into the Alpujarra, is a Spanish town that celebrates New Year’s Eve in summer. Picture fairy lights and paper garlands swaying in mountain air while trays of grapes wait in the heat of a Spanish summer night.
When is Bérchules' New Year's Eve?
Located in the province of Granada, the town celebrates their NYE celebrations around the first weekend of August each year. Music and family activities build through the evening, stalls sell summery snacks alongside winter sweets, and just before midnight everyone drifts towards the clock to find their footing for the bells.
Why does Bérchules celebrate New Year’s Eve in August?
A town‑wide power cut on 31st December 1993 silenced the clock and the TV countdown, so Bérchules never heard its midnight bells. The following summer, neighbours staged a full do‑over with grapes, chimes and a street party when far‑flung relatives were home, and it stuck.
What to expect on Bérchules' New Year's Eve
It starts light‑hearted and ends tender. You’ll see bags of grapes traded like contraband, a mix of jamón tastings and wintery sweets such as turrón or polvorones, and a child darting past in reindeer antlers with an ice cream.
As the cuartos (first chimes) ring out, conversation drops to a murmur, and everyone fixes on the hands of the clock. Twelve bells later, there’s that collective sigh of relief, a clink of cava, and the warm crush of “Feliz Año”.
Where to celebrate New Year's Eve
If a December‑style blowout is more your scene, city spectacles and public countdowns are easy to plan around by skimming the best cities to enjoy New Year’s Eve in Spain.
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