The new year is on its way, and with it the promise of better things, of personal and shared changes. We leave 2011 behind and move ahead into the twelve months of 2012 with more projects and possibilities, with freshly renewed energies.

Furthermore, and as tradition holds, to send off the "old" year—apart from our tradition of eating a grape for every toll of the New Year's Eve clock—Barcelona will thrill throughout the afternoon of December 31st with one of the most emblematic sporting events of the year: the Cursa dels Nassos, the Nose Race.

We invite you then to participate in this celebratory running event, held in other European cities (Berlin, London and Paris) and in cities all over the world. All of these places, together with Barcelona, are heirs to the first Saint Sylvester Race in history, which took place in 1924 in Sao Paulo, Brazil, bringing together the spirit of sport and the spirit of Christmas. On that Saint Sylvester's day sport became a way of celebrating the upcoming year, and from there the tradition has spread to cities throughout the world.

Furthermore, the Barcelona Cursa dels Nassos joins together sport and Catalan traditional culture. The Nose Race refers to the Man of Many Noses, a mythical character from Catalan folklore who has as many noses as there are days left in the year. Maybe you'll see him along the race route.
So it's clear, it can't be missed. Follow your nose, you won't regret it!s

Maite Fandos i Payà
Deputy Mayor for Quality of Life, Equality and Sport.