What is the traditional New Year’s Eve food custom of eating 12 grapes called in Spanish?

The Spanish New Year’s Eve custom of eating 12 grapes is called las doce uvas de la suerte.

The phrase translates as “the twelve grapes of luck.” Participants eat one grape with each midnight chime, linking the ritual to hopes for good fortune during the 12 months ahead. The custom is one of Spain’s most recognizable New Year traditions and is widely followed through televised clock broadcasts.

The ritual is often associated with Madrid’s Puerta del Sol, whose clock provides the best-known national countdown. People may prepare peeled or seedless grapes because the chimes arrive rapidly, but those variations do not change the name of the custom.

Las campanadas refers more generally to the midnight chimes or countdown, so it is a related expression rather than the specific name of the grape tradition. The full phrase uvas de la suerte distinguishes this food custom from Spain’s wider New Year celebrations.