No, it's not the Chinese one... or a Martian one, but somewhere closer to home - Bérchules in the Alpujarra!

The good folks (and a smattering of the bad ones) of Bérchules held their New Year celebrations to usher in 2022 on the night of the 6th of August, which might sound slightly unhinged but the Town Hall there has known how to turn a disastrous power cut that scuppered New Year celebrations, into a successful tourism attraction.

How? They decided that instead of writing off New Year’s Eve 1994, (the power cut had deprived the village of the 12 strokes at midnight) they would celebrate it on the first weekend of August 1995. And it has become a magnet for the village every summer thanks to this quirky ‘arreglo.’

The Mayor, Ismael Padilla, said that many people turned up for the celebrations over the weekend, as they used to before the Covid restrictions. In fact, some 7,000 visitors turned up to welcome in the Bérchules New Year, which is not bad, considering its standing population of only 715.

The village even has an official shop for the Asociación de la Nochevieja en Agosto de Bérchules, where visitors can get all the necessary gen for the event.

(News: Berchules, Alpujarra, Granada, Andalucia)