New Year’s Eve, we went with a group of friends for dinner at an original Spanish restaurant called “La Taberna Iberica”. We were greeted more like family than customers when we arrived. The owner Francesca met us at the door and gave us a big hug and a kiss on both cheeks.

The interior of the restaurant is divided into several different areas for dining and an upper level for larger groups. We went to the upstairs area which was reserved for our group of thirteen. We sat down and settled in for the 6-course meal.

There was a guitarist playing some very nice Spanish music. He entertained us with background music throughout the meal. The guitarist spoke perfect English and we found out later that evening that he is from Ottawa, Canada.

We had a choice of two main plates “Cerdito” and “Filete”,. Ray ordered the Filete and Shelley ordered the Cerdito. That way we could both try the two main plates. The food was traditional Spanish with cheese and ham as a starter. We then had a plate of seafood and salad.

We were then served another type of shrimp which looked similar to a small crab or prawn. We both tried them but it was not what we would normally eat.

Then our main course was brought out and served. Shelley was surprised to see her Cerdito plate when it arrived. Certainly not something we would normally eat.

Cerdito is Spanish for piglet and the little guy was staring at her from the plate. Shelley turned the plate so the Cerdito was not looking directly at her and enjoyed the tasty meal.  After the main course, we enjoyed an assortment of cakes for dessert and an after dinner drink.

We then got a bag of twelve grapes and a few bottles of cava (similar to Champaign) delivered to the table.

There is a tradition in Spain called “Las doce uvas de la suerte” which means “the twelve grapes of luck”. The origin of this tradition dates back to 1909 and began here in Alicante. Apparently, there was an abundance of grapes that particular year and the growers popularized this custom to sell large amounts of grapes.

In Madrid, they have a similar event to Time Square in New York. There is a large ball in Madrid that is lowered at Midnight and it is televised across Spain.

We took our grapes and cava and headed downstairs to the main room which has the TV. We watched the countdown and at midnight ate the 12 grapes to the sound of the bells chiming midnight.

After finishing our grapes and wishing everyone Happy New Year, we headed to City Hall. There is a large plaza there where the party goes on until the early hours. When we arrived there were thousands of people in the plaza dancing and having fun.

They were playing music and people were dancing all in the plaza. We saw people of all ages enjoying themselves, including people in their sixties and seventies.

Some of the people were sharing a bottle of wine and passing it around the group. Below is a short video of some of the dancing and music in the plaza.

We stayed at City Hall for about a half an hour before heading to another bar. This bar was unique because the entrance doorway is only four feet high.

The entire Inside of the bar was decorated in graffiti made by patrons of the bar. There were two floors to the bar, and we headed upstairs to have a drink.

What was interesting was that we could not find any inappropriate graffiti in the entire bar.

Our first New Year’s Eve in Spain was very enjoyable.

“Adios y próspero año nuevo”