In New Year's Eve celebrations at Madrid's Puerta del Sol, which clock's chimes cue the twelve grapes?

Madrid’s New Year’s Eve grape ritual is cued by the clock at the Real Casa de Correos in Puerta del Sol.

The building is the headquarters of the Community of Madrid and stands at the center of the square. Its clock tower became the focus of Spain’s nationally televised New Year celebration, with the midnight chimes guiding the twelve-grape tradition.

The clock’s visible sequence includes preliminary signals before the twelve main strokes. This distinction matters because viewers unfamiliar with the broadcast can begin eating too early. The twelve grapes are meant to match the twelve midnight chimes, one for each month of the coming year.

Puerta del Sol itself is a major Madrid landmark and a traditional gathering place. The building is sometimes loosely described as Madrid’s “New Year clock,” but its formal name is Real Casa de Correos. The famous clock was installed in the nineteenth century and has since become one of Spain’s most recognizable symbols of the holiday.