At Madrid's Puerta del Sol, Spaniards traditionally eat 12 grapes with the 12 midnight chimes on New Year's Eve.
Each grape corresponds to one chime and is associated with good fortune for one month of the coming year. The custom is followed across Spain, with families and friends watching broadcasts of the clock at Puerta del Sol and trying to keep pace with the bells.
The tradition became especially popular in the early twentieth century. A widely repeated explanation connects its growth to a surplus grape harvest in 1909, when growers promoted the practice, although earlier references show that eating grapes at New Year had already begun in Madrid.
The chimes are not the same as the quarter-hour warning sounds that precede them. The actual sequence starts at midnight, and eating all 12 grapes in time is considered a playful challenge. Spanish communities around the world also observe the custom, sometimes using peeled or seedless grapes for convenience.