What midnight food tradition marks New Year's Eve in Spain by eating 12 grapes?

Spain's 12-grape New Year's Eve tradition is called Las doce uvas de la suerte, meaning “the twelve grapes of luck.”

People try to eat one grape with each of the 12 clock chimes at midnight on December 31. Each grape represents a month of the coming year, and successfully eating all 12 is associated with good luck and prosperity. The custom is especially linked with the clock at Madrid's Puerta del Sol, whose chimes are broadcast nationwide.

The tradition is often attributed to a combination of late-19th-century urban custom and a 1909 surplus grape harvest promoted by growers. Accounts differ about how quickly the practice spread, so the 1909 harvest should not be treated as its sole invention. Similar midnight grape customs have also appeared in parts of Latin America, but the Spanish name and Puerta del Sol broadcast are the best-known references.