Grapes are traditionally eaten for good luck on New Year's Eve in Spain, one at each clock chime.
The custom is known as las doce uvas de la suerte, or “the twelve grapes of luck.” At midnight, people try to eat twelve grapes in time with the twelve chimes of the clock, with each grape representing one month of the coming year.
Madrid’s Puerta del Sol is the most famous public setting for the ritual because its clock broadcasts the chimes across Spain. Families and friends also follow the countdown at home through television or radio, often preparing the grapes in advance.
The practice is commonly linked to a surplus grape harvest in the early twentieth century, when growers promoted the idea as a way to sell more fruit. The precise origin story is debated, but the twelve-grape tradition was firmly established in Spain by the early 1900s.