In Spain, people traditionally eat twelve grapes with the twelve midnight strokes on New Year's Eve.
The custom is known as las doce uvas de la suerte, or “the twelve grapes of luck.” Each grape represents one month of the coming year, and successfully eating all twelve before the final chimes is associated with good fortune.
The best-known national countdown is broadcast from Madrid's Puerta del Sol, where the clock of the Real Casa de Correos provides the midnight chimes. Viewers across Spain often prepare grapes in advance because the interval between chimes is short.
A common mix-up is to confuse the grapes with Spain's Christmas sweets or New Year's Eve cava. Cava is frequently used for toasts, but it is the twelve grapes—not the sparkling wine—that form the distinctive midnight food ritual.