What is the traditional Spanish New Year's Eve custom involving 12 grapes?
Answer
Eating one grape per chime
The traditional Spanish New Year's Eve custom is eating one grape per chime at midnight. The twelve grapes, called las doce uvas de la suerte, are meant to represent good fortune for the twelve months ahead.
People try to eat one grape with each stroke of the clock at midnight on December 31. The best-known national broadcast follows the clock at Madrid's Puerta del Sol, whose chimes are heard by viewers across Spain. Supermarkets commonly sell prepared packs of twelve grapes for the occasion.
The practice is often linked to a surplus grape harvest in the early 20th century, when growers promoted the idea as a way to encourage consumption. The exact origin is debated, because earlier elite and urban references to midnight grapes also exist. The grapes are not twelve different varieties, and the custom is not the same as eating grapes at any point during New Year's Day.