Madrid hosts the famous New Year's Eve countdown at Puerta del Sol.
Puerta del Sol is a major public square in central Madrid and one of the best-known gathering places in Spain. On New Year's Eve, crowds watch the clock on the Real Casa de Correos as its midnight chimes accompany the traditional twelve grapes.
The event is broadcast across Spain, allowing people elsewhere to synchronize their celebrations with the square’s clock. The grape custom gives the countdown a distinctive rhythm: participants try to eat one grape with each of the twelve principal chimes.
Puerta del Sol has other notable associations. It contains the Kilometre Zero plaque used as the reference point for Spain’s radial road network and a statue of the Bear and the Strawberry Tree, a symbol of Madrid. The square’s New Year gathering is therefore part of a broader civic and historic setting.