Spain’s New Year’s Eve tradition calls for eating twelve grapes, one at each midnight clock chime.
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 good fortune.
Madrid’s Puerta del Sol is the country’s best-known setting for the ritual. The clock there is broadcast nationwide, allowing people across Spain to follow the same chimes. The tradition is also practiced in Spanish-speaking communities elsewhere.
A common mix-up is to confuse the grapes with Spain’s Christmas sweets or with Italy’s lentils, another New Year food associated with prosperity. The defining detail of the Spanish custom is the combination of twelve grapes and twelve midnight chimes.