New Year’s Eve celebrated at noon in Ávila village where most residents are over 75
Wednesday, December 31, 2014 @ 8:03 PM
A VILLAGE in western Spain chimed in the New Year today (Wednesday) at noon instead of midnight – because most of its residents would not be awake at the usual time.
Villar de Corneja, in the province of Ávila, Castilla y León, has just 48 inhabitants and the average age is 75.
Mayoress Carmen Hernández says most residents would have gone to bed long before the midnight chimes and, for the last 10 years – since the first day of 2004 – church bells have rung in the New Year at midday instead.
“By midnight, the majority of residents will be on their second sleep,” says Sra Hernández, referring to the ‘first sleep’ of the day as the afternoon nap, or siesta, and the ‘second’ as when they go to bed at night.
As a result, 12 hours before the rest of Spain, most of the 48 villagers were out in the church square eating their 12 grapes – one for each chime.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com