What food tradition sees people in Spain eat 12 grapes at midnight on New Year's Eve?

Spain's New Year's Eve midnight tradition is known as the twelve grapes.

Participants try to eat one grape with each of the clock's twelve midnight chimes. Each grape represents one month of the coming year, and successfully eating all twelve is associated with good luck and prosperity.

The custom is strongly linked with Madrid's Puerta del Sol, where the clock's chimes are broadcast nationally. Families and friends often prepare twelve grapes in advance because the chimes arrive quickly and the fruit can be difficult to eat in time.

The tradition is often described as a Spanish custom, although related grape-eating practices have spread to other Spanish-speaking countries. A common mistake is to treat the number as a general New Year's decoration rather than the specific midnight ritual: the important elements are twelve grapes and twelve chimes.