In which country is a new year's tradition to consume 12 lucky grapes?

Eating 12 grapes at midnight on New Year’s Eve is both a tradition and a superstition in Spain. Rare is the Spaniard who will risk poisoning their fate for the coming year by skipping the grapes, one for each stroke of midnight.

But the first 12 seconds of the Spaniards’ New Year are somewhat quieter and more intense, as everyone focuses on eating all 12 of the “miraculous grapes” that symbolize 12 lucky months ahead.

Tradition has it that you have to eat them one by one, in time with the striking of the clock at midnight on 31 December. If you manage to eat all the grapes in time, you are in for a year of prosperity and good luck.

The grapes are the most anticipated moment of New Year’s Eve. The chiming of the clocks is broadcast on TV all over Spain. On this day, family or friends usually get together for a delicious dinner and then have the twelve grapes.

In many towns and villages people go to a central square or an iconic place where there is a large clock, to eat the grapes together and share the last minutes of the old year.