Crowds traditionally gather in Madrid’s Puerta del Sol to eat 12 grapes at midnight on New Year’s Eve.
Puerta del Sol is a major public square in central Madrid and the setting for Spain’s best-known New Year’s Eve countdown. Revelers watch the clock and eat one grape with each of the 12 midnight chimes, a ritual popularly linked with luck for the 12 months ahead.
The square’s clock is a national symbol during the celebration because Spanish television networks broadcast its chimes to viewers across the country. People who cannot attend in person often follow the ceremony from homes, restaurants, or public gatherings elsewhere.
Puerta del Sol is also known for the statue of the Bear and the Strawberry Tree, a symbol of Madrid, and for the Kilometre Zero plaque used in measuring distances from the capital. Those landmarks belong to the square’s wider identity but are separate from the grape tradition.