Freixenet will once again be present in one of the most representative television moments of Christmas, although this time it will not do so through its traditional advertising. The company has announced that it will sponsor the 3Cat Chimes for the first time and will be the official cava with which Laura Escanes and Miki Núñez will toast to welcome 2027 from Barcelona.

The agreement represents the incorporation of Freixenet to a broadcast that has already included other beverage brands and that last year was the protagonist of a particular controversy. In the Chimes that gave way to 2026, Estrella Damm was the brand chosen for the toast, a decision that caused discomfort among cava producers, who questioned that Catalan public television celebrated the arrival of the new year with beer instead of with a product so linked to the tradition of the region.
As a result of the controversy, TV3 explained that it had been an exceptional case because Estrella Damm had turned 150 years old and, therefore, it had been prioritized over cava. The Catalan brewery, for its part, declared that they were especially excited about the toast in a year like 2026 and considered it the first of many commemorative events that have taken place throughout these months.

Previously, the broadcast had included the presence of Juvé & Camps, whose cava accompanied the toast of the Chimes of 2023, according to 3Cat’s own commercial documentation.

With the entry of Freixenet, cava will regain its presence in the television toast and the brand will reinforce its association with a celebration that is especially relevant to its category.

A broadcast with more than a million viewers

The collaboration will allow Freixenet to link its image to one of the most followed television events of the year in Catalonia. According to data communicated by 3Cat, the last Chimes recorded a screen share of 44.4% during the first minute of 2026 and brought together more than a million viewers. In the digital sphere, the broadcast was the most viewed live content of the day on the 3Cat platform, with more than 51,000 unique devices connected.

Laura Escanes and Miki Núñez will repeat as presenters for the fourth consecutive year. The broadcast will take place from Barcelona and will be accompanied by a music and pyrotechnics show organized by the city council.

For Freixenet, the presence of Escanes also provides continuity to a commercial relationship that has already been developed in other initiatives. Last summer, the content creator starred in the launch campaign for Freixenet Solare, the company’s new lemon aperitif.
Sponsorship thus allows this collaboration to be prolonged in a context of great media exposure and especially related to the positioning of the brand.

The initiative also acquires relevance due to the advertising career of Freixenet, whose Christmas communication is part of the history of Spanish advertising.
For decades, its advertisements starring the well-known golden bubbles and numerous national and international personalities were one of the references of the season. The company built an association between its brand, cava and the great end-of-year celebrations around these campaigns.

However, its advertising strategy has evolved in recent years towards communication that is less dependent on Christmas and with a greater presence on digital channels. The company stopped using big celebrities in its Christmas campaigns starting in 2018 and began promoting messages linked to everyday celebrations, with the aim of expanding the occasions for consumption of its products.

The sponsorship of the 3Cat Chimes does not necessarily represent a return to that advertising model, but it does represent a new way of taking advantage of Freixenet’s historical connection with New Year’s Eve, this time through its integration into the television event itself.

The company frames the agreement in its strategy to reinforce its presence in shared moments and maintain its relationship with the culture of celebration. With this collaboration, Freixenet regains visibility in one of the most symbolic events on the Christmas calendar and consolidates its presence in a territory that it has occupied for decades in the Spanish advertising imagination.