In Spain, grapes are traditionally eaten with each stroke of the midnight clock on New Year’s Eve.
The custom is known as las doce uvas de la suerte, or “the twelve grapes of luck.” People try to eat one grape for each of the twelve clock chimes at midnight. Completing the sequence is associated with good fortune during the twelve months of the coming year.
The best-known public version takes place at Madrid’s Puerta del Sol, whose clock tower broadcasts the chimes across Spain. Television networks commonly show the clock and presenters timing the ritual so households can participate together.
The tradition is often linked to a large grape surplus in the early twentieth century, especially the 1909 harvest, when growers promoted the idea. The exact origin is debated, but the practice is now a recognizable Spanish New Year’s Eve custom. The grapes symbolize luck; they are not twelve different fruits or twelve courses.