In Spain, people traditionally eat grapes with each of the twelve midnight clock chimes 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 chimes finish is associated with prosperity and good fortune.
Many Spaniards follow the chimes broadcast from the clock at Madrid’s Puerta del Sol. The square’s clock has become a national focal point for the countdown, with television coverage carrying the ceremony to homes throughout Spain. People often prepare small portions of peeled or seedless grapes to make the rapid sequence easier.
The tradition is commonly linked to a surplus grape harvest in the early twentieth century, when growers promoted the fruit as a New Year custom. Its precise origin is sometimes described differently, but the twelve-chime practice is firmly established in Spanish celebrations and has also spread to Spanish-speaking communities elsewhere.