In Spain's New Year's Eve grape tradition, the 12 grapes symbolize the 12 months of the coming year.
People eat one grape for each midnight chime, completing the sequence as the old year changes into the new one. The ritual is known as las doce uvas de la suerte, meaning the twelve grapes of luck. Successfully eating them is traditionally associated with good fortune for the year ahead.
The custom is most visibly performed in Madrid's Puerta del Sol, where crowds gather around the clock at the Royal House of the Post Office. Television broadcasts carry the chimes across Spain, allowing households to follow the same timing from home.
The number is sometimes mistakenly linked with the zodiac or the apostles, but those are not the traditional explanation. The grapes correspond to the calendar months, making the practice a compact edible forecast for the year ahead.