Madrid's Puerta del Sol hosts Spain's most famous televised New Year's Eve clock countdown.
The square is home to the Real Casa de Correos, whose clock provides the midnight chimes used for Spain's best-known public celebration. At each of the twelve principal chimes, viewers traditionally eat one grape, creating the country's famous twelve-grape ritual.
Television networks broadcast the clock to homes throughout Spain, so the square's countdown has national importance even for people celebrating elsewhere. Large crowds also gather in Puerta del Sol when public access is permitted, although authorities manage entry for safety during especially busy celebrations.
The name Puerta del Sol means Gate of the Sun. The square is one of Madrid's central landmarks and is marked by the Kilometer Zero plaque, a reference point for Spain's radial road network. It is sometimes confused with Madrid's Plaza Mayor, another famous square, but the New Year's clock is specifically associated with Puerta del Sol.