In Spain, people traditionally eat twelve grapes, one with each midnight chime on New Year’s Eve.
Known as the twelve grapes of luck, the custom is intended to bring good fortune in the twelve months ahead. Participants try to eat all twelve grapes in time with the clock’s twelve strokes at midnight, making the ritual both symbolic and playful.
The tradition is especially associated with Madrid’s Puerta del Sol, whose clock is watched nationally through television broadcasts. Families and groups across Spain often prepare individual portions of grapes before the countdown begins.
The practice is often linked to an abundant grape harvest in the early twentieth century, although the custom’s exact development is more complex and earlier references to grapes at New Year have also been identified. Similar grape-eating traditions later appeared in parts of Latin America.