Ecuador's New Year's Eve effigy-burning tradition is called Año Viejo.
Año Viejo means “old year” in Spanish and refers both to the effigy and to the celebration surrounding it. Families and communities create figures from materials such as paper, cardboard, cloth, and sawdust. The figures may represent public figures, fictional characters, or events from the year that is ending.
At midnight, the effigies are burned as a symbolic farewell to the old year and a cleansing before the new one. In many places, people also stage humorous performances or write wishes and reflections connected with the figure. Some Ecuadorian traditions feature widows, often men dressed in exaggerated clothing, who perform beside the effigies and ask passersby for money.
Safety and environmental concerns have led some communities to regulate burning or use alternative displays. The custom is strongly associated with Ecuador, although related end-of-year effigy traditions exist elsewhere in Latin America.