Nochevieja Universitaria: Early NYE Festival in Salamanca!

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For a lot of people around the world, the holiday season is the time to leave your school, work or internship and head home for a few weeks. While this is usually a happy time of year – filled with reunions and relaxing family time – it also means saying goodbye to the important people in our daily lives. It’s nearly impossible to see everyone you love over the holidays, and even more so when it comes to celebrating New Years Eve! That’s why the student community in Salamanca started the festival known as Nochevieja Universitaria! The concept is simple. Every Thursday before Christmas break, everyone pretends it’s New Years Eve. People from all over the country (even the world) gather in Salamanca’s Plaza Mayor to party, say farewell and even participate in a countdown!


The night functions as most Spanish fiestas do – a lot of partying in the city streets. On days like this, it’s completely fine to drink in public, within reason, of course! There will be concerts and performances all night long both before and after the countdown.  It’s important to make sure you’re dressed warm, because the city will be so packed it will be quite difficult to head inside somewhere to warm up and booking accommodation will be nearly impossible unless you started planning a few months ago.


Leah has been living in and exploring Madrid since 2013 when she moved to the city for a simple summer abroad. She started the Citylife Blog in 2014 with the goal to share everything there is to know about her favourite place on earth!

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