In Spain's New Year's Eve custom, twelve grapes are eaten with the midnight clock chimes.
The practice is known as las doce uvas de la suerte, or “the twelve grapes of luck.” Participants try to eat one grape for each of the twelve chimes marking midnight. Each grape represents one month of the coming year, and successfully completing the sequence is traditionally associated with good fortune.
The best-known public countdown takes place at Madrid’s Puerta del Sol, where the clock’s chimes are broadcast across Spain. Families and friends commonly prepare twelve grapes in advance, because eating them quickly while following the bells can be surprisingly difficult.
The custom is often linked to a surplus grape harvest in the early 20th century, when growers and merchants promoted grapes as a festive New Year food. Historians also note earlier elite traditions involving grapes. The exact origin is debated, but the twelve-chime ritual is firmly established in modern Spanish celebrations.