What is the name of Spain's midnight New Year's Eve grape-eating tradition?

Spain’s midnight New Year’s Eve grape-eating tradition is called “Las doce uvas de la suerte,” meaning “the twelve grapes of luck.”

Participants try to eat one grape with each of the twelve clock chimes at midnight. The grapes represent the twelve months ahead, and successfully following the chimes is traditionally associated with good fortune. The custom is especially linked with the clock at Puerta del Sol in Madrid, whose chimes are broadcast nationwide.

The tradition became widely established in Spain in the early twentieth century. A commonly repeated story says that grape growers promoted the practice after a surplus harvest, but historians also connect it with earlier upper-class New Year customs involving grapes and champagne. The precise origin is therefore more complicated than a single promotional event.

The twelve grapes should not be confused with the Philippines’ custom of displaying twelve round fruits, which is a separate New Year tradition. In Spain, the defining action is eating grapes in time with the midnight chimes.