In Spain's New Year's Eve tradition, grapes are eaten with the twelve midnight chimes for good luck.
The custom is known as las doce uvas de la suerte, or “the twelve grapes of luck.” People try to eat one grape at each stroke of the clock at midnight on December 31. Successfully finishing all twelve is associated with prosperity or good fortune in the coming year.
The ritual is especially linked with the clock at Madrid's Puerta del Sol, whose chimes are broadcast nationwide. Families and friends often prepare twelve grapes in advance because eating them quickly can be surprisingly difficult.
The practice became widely popular in Spain in the early twentieth century. One commonly repeated explanation connects its spread with a surplus grape harvest in the early 1900s, although the custom also grew from an earlier urban tradition among Madrid residents. The twelve grapes represent the twelve months of the year.