It is almost impossible for a Spaniard not to relate the end of the year chimes with Ramón García's cape . This year, we hope he continues with the tradition but he will not do it accompanied by Anne Igartiburu like other years; To say goodbye to 2021, Ibai Llanos will be next to the host of the legendary Grand Prix to eat the 12 grapes. The moment will be broadcast from the Ibai channel on Twitch.
Ramón García himself affirmed that they are not proposing to compete with television, but rather “get together to do something different.” For Ibai Llaron it will not be a novelty to accompany his followers on Twitch at the end of the year, but for García it is something very innovative. It is also the case for the television tradition of celebrating the bells and the end of the year galas that follow them.
The García-Llanos duo will be at the Puerta del Sol in Madrid along with other classic faces of Spanish television at the end of the year such as Anne Igartiburu –Ana Obregón is absent for testing positive for coronavirus–, on Spanish Television, and Cristina Pedroche on Antena 3. This year will be the first time that a streamer sneaks into the league of end-of-year classics. A television category that marked a milestone in Spain and is part of the country's history.
From Camilo Sesto to the Pet Shop Boys at the end of the year
The first time the end of the year bells were broadcast in Spain was in 1962 . It was a couple of years later when the galas began, at a time when Spain was still mired in a dictatorship. In the last few coleteos, however, there were already signs of a (slow) opening with performances by singers like Tom Jones. In the 70s, at the end of the year galas it was all color and happiness to the sound of the performances of Camilo Sesto, Massiel or Georgie Dann.
It was not until the following decade that international singers began to weigh heavily on these television shows. Now it may seem difficult to imagine a year-end gala to promote national talent with singers like Alaska or Gabinete Caligari (in the middle of the Madrid Movida) and, in between, performances by Donna Summer, Boney M or the Pet Shop Boys.
The end of the year galas were, in some respects, a reflection of the evolution of Spanish society after years of dictatorship. Surely the most important revolution of these programs have been the erotic performances of some singers. They started in the mid-80s so that, in the last hour of the program, Italian women sang topless or did a striptease for all the Spanish spectators. That tradition has been far away now at that time, but the New Year's Eve finery still had a long way to go.
Encarna at night will not be with Ibai on Twitch As the years went by, artists like Miguel Bosé and the inexhaustible Julio Iglesias won the permanent pass at the end of the year galas. A commitment to humor was also taking hold that had one of its golden ages with the success of Martes y Trece. The sketch of Encarna de noche y la empanadilla de Móstoles continues to be, 35 years after its broadcast, an unforgettable chapter of the end-of-year galas and Spanish humor. It was also in one of these galas that we experienced other unforgettable moments, such as Sabrina's well-known carelessness. From the comedy duo of Martes y 13 they went to Los Morancos, then Cruz y Raya until José Mota has remained as an ambassador of humor in these programs.
It was when the galas already enjoyed the affection of the Spanish public that the bells became another actor in the fight for audiences between the public and private channels such as Telecinco and Antena 3. It was the latter that decided that the broadcast had to be carried performed by a presenter dressed for the occasion. Mayra Gómez – Kemp was the one who kicked off this now custom that the other channels had no choice but to replicate so as not to lose viewers. Far away at that time was Ibai's New Year's Eve live on Twitch.
Cachitos, the new year-end milestone
Some of the memories of these galas are historical archives and one of the bases of the new success of New Year's Eve: the Cachitos program at the end of the year . The songs of Raffaella Carrá, Pimpinela or Isabel Pantoja are combined with labels that talk about the dress that Cristina Pedroche wears for her bells or the political situation in the country. Not even the creators and scriptwriters of the program could imagine that the musical program of the 2 would be almost the most watched on the night of the end of the year.
“We did not expect the unanimity we had in accepting willingly the type of humor that we do. These years there have been great debates about the limits of humor and we were not criticized. We do have constructive critics , which is very important and we love it, “said Pablo González, one of the scriptwriters, to The Huffington Post.
One of the most important milestones of Cachitos is not only due to its format, but also due to its ability to move a large community on Twitter, which does not miss the opportunity to comment on the first program of the year. That line between musical nostalgia and humor that Cachitos brand so well has been a trending topic in Spain in recent New Years Eve and has also marked a habit that until then was not so widespread. For obvious reasons, the New Year's Eve galas could not be commented on on social media while they were living their moment of glory and, when social media arrived, these shows began to decline.
The chimes and the nostalgia of what was
With some differences between the end-of-year galas of the different channels, the musical performances and the well-groomed presenters are translated into a forced happiness that ends up conveying the opposite . A format that has little to attract the attention of generations that have not grown up watching Camilo Sesto on television on New Year's Eve and have no nostalgia to cling to.
Last year, the end of the year chimes with Anne Igartiburu and Ana Obregón were one of the most sentimental and the most watched in Spain. This year, however, Ibai Llanos will join a club in which, although he is the last to arrive, he has all the cards to win the most viewed award . And that will not even be broadcast on television.
Seeing the chimes with Ibai on Twitch is a big change for a Spanish tradition that practically forces families to sit at a table in front of 12 grapes. To release in 2022, the traditional Ramón García cape has not been changed for a direct from Twitch. On the contrary , the cape is kept as a symbol of the Spanish tradition on New Year's Eve with the company of the most recognized Spanish streamer.
