Across various Spanish beaches, thousands plunge into cold waters right after New Year's grapes to symbolize renewal and purification starting 2026. This tradition, blending ancestral rituals with physical challenges, is fervently observed in places like Gijón, San Sebastián, and Ibiza. Similar events draw crowds internationally in the Netherlands and Switzerland.
The tradition of the first swim of the year establishes itself as a rite of bravery and hope in Spain. At San Lorenzo beach in Gijón, entire families participate amid six-degree air temperatures and thirteen-degree Cantabrian waters. Attendees say this test strengthens the mind and provides a positive outlook for the year.
In San Sebastián, hundreds gather at La Concha beach, including a four-year-old girl and an eighty-three-year-old man in past editions. Hot broth and gifts follow the dip. In Ibiza, the town hall organizes the event at ses Figueretes with hot chocolate; in Mallorca, at Can Pere Antoni, it ends with ensaimadas.
In Andalucía, Nordic swimmers in Almuñécar enjoy seventeen- or eighteen-degree water, akin to a summer day in their homelands. Teulada Moraira draws families since the late twentieth century at Portet beach. In Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Las Canteras sees early risers and night owls in eighteen-degree mornings.
Barcelona and A Coruña attract over a thousand in New Year's Eve attire or costumes. Even inland, like El Robledo in Ciudad Real, people swim in the Bullaque river.
Outside Spain, in Scheveningen, Netherlands, nearly ten thousand challenge eight-degree waters since 1960. At Lake Geneva, Switzerland, they swim at seven-point-three degrees toasting with champagne. In Berlin, the Seehunde Berlin club wears elegant hats at Lake Oranke. In the UK and Ireland, events at Scarborough and Bray raise funds with costumes.
Other traditions include Opatija in Croatia, Lithuanian lakes, Portuguese beaches, and in Uruguay and Ecuador, variants with water, cider, or fire.
