The title is a portmanteau of the Spanish verb pasar, "pass", and palabra, literally "word".

In this round, players are given four options to choose from, then asked a series of questions, usually built around a theme (e.g. musicians, actors, countries, animals, etc.).

The host reveals the year in which the song was first released (though in some cases, they listen to a cover version, in which case the host will tell them the year in which the cover was released); a short snippet of the song is then played, and if the player can identify it correctly, they earn the contestant five seconds.

If a player correctly finds all nine words in a single play, the contestant locks in 10 seconds.

[1] In 2014, Lilit Manukyan of Armenia became the first Pasapalabra jackpot winner whose native language was not Spanish.

[4] On 2 October 2019, the programme was pulled by Telecinco, following a ruling by the Supreme Court of Spain in favour of ITV Studios in a royalty dispute over the rights to the Pasapalabra format.

While initially adapted from the British panel game show The Alphabet Game, Mediaset argued that the format had evolved substantially to include elements (such as the endgame) that were not included in the original format, to the point that it believed ITV were no longer entitled to royalties.

[5][6] Telecinco briefly replaced the programme with its own original format, El tirón, which was also hosted by Gálvez.

[8] Roberto Leal took on hosting duties,[9] with Manel Fuentes filling in for him for two episodes while he was quarantined after contracting COVID-19.

[10] On 28 February 2021, a special 20th anniversary episode aired with former hosts Silvia Jato and Jaime Cantizano as guest contestants.

[11][12] On 1 July 2021, Pablo Díaz won a jackpot of nearly €2,000,000, after a record run of 260 consecutive episodes.