In this episode of Spanish Practices - As we start 2026 Spain faces a demographic crunch. A 2025 forecast says the country needs 2.4 million foreign workers by 2035 to sustain its pension system — just as millions apply for Spanish citizenship under the Grandchildren's Law.

In this episode of Living in Spain, I talk about the choking hazard that is a Spanish Tradition at New Year, drawing on real experiences of expat life in Andalusia after moving from the UK to Spain.

We cover:

• How a Spanish New Year is celebrated, and why twelve grapes play an important part.

• The cultural differences between New Year in Spain and the UK

• What I miss about New Year in the UK and New Year in Spain

• There are stories, mistakes, moments of joy, and the occasional flashback to my former life as a London radio producer — including an exploding bottle of champagne and a one thousand pound bounty for working over the millennium.

In this episode at least two reasons among many why we left our leafy Essex town and beautiful four bedroomed bay-fronted Edwardian House and ran off to sunny Spain.

So to the ghosts two arrive from my past. One is a, to be, famous children's author to whom I was spectacularly rude, after which I threw away the first edition of her book about a boy who didn't know he was a wizard.

The other is a man who once started a little online bookshop with a ridiculous name, well I thought it was when they launched in the UK — Amazon — though confusingly, his name was, I think Jeff, not Amazon.