Why eat 12 grapes for New Year's? Here's what to know about the good-luck tradition.
Can grapes bring you luck? Spaniards believe so, and at midnight on New Year's Eve all across the country it's a race to gobble 12 grapes all before the first minute of the year passes.
The 12 grapes, which stand for the months of the year, need to be eaten one by one before the clock changes to 12:01. If the grapes are consumed, the tradition states good luck will be by your side for the entire year.
Where does the tradition of eating 12 grapes come from?
The origins of the "uvas de la suerte" tradition are hard to trace. The idea might have begun with grape farmers in Alicante, Spain, to unload a surplus in the early 1900s, reported Atlas Obscura. Grapes are a reasonably priced crop that tends to fare well, and there are often surpluses so the fruit can be brought cheaply.
Or it might have been Madrid's bourgeoisie copying the French tradition of having grapes and champagne on the last day of the year, NPR reported. But the story goes that the Madrid residents wanted to rebel against class distinctions and decided to mock aristocrats by going to Puerta del Sol to eat grapes accompanied by the sound of the bells.
Whatever the beginnings were, the tradition has caught on like wildfire in Spain. Supermarket chains such as Mercadona and Super Sol advertise and sell "uvas de la suerte" across Spain.
Mercadona, one of Spain's largest grocery chains, advertised four ways to purchase grapes for the occasion. Natural bunch grapes with seeds from Alicante add "an element of fun to the tradition of the 12 grapes." The seeds provide a "crunchy touch," the supermarket said. Consumers can also buy grapes without seeds, or prepackaged grapes "specially selected and packaged with the exact amount needed for each chime."
Prepackaged grapes allow revelers to open the grapes at the precise moment the clock changes and not worry about counting or peeling the grapes in the midst of the excitement of the celebration.
Grapes can also be bought peeled and pitted in a can. These grapes are among the most popular for Spaniards due to their convenience, the supermarket said.
What are the exact rules for the New Year's grape tradition?
Regardless of how the grapes are purchased, eating them at midnight on Nochevieja is key to celebrating in Spain. Celebrants need to eat the grapes before the clock chimes 12:01 a.m., and if consumed in full, tradition holds that good luck will be by your side for the entire year.
Spaniards commonly choose green grapes for this tradition.
Where did the idea of eating grapes under the table come from?
Eating grapes under a table isn't part of the original tradition from Spain, but may be a 21st-century twist spreading on social media. TikTok users posted on social media and said they were eating 12 grapes — either red or green — under a table, in the hopes that single people who eat the grapes under a table on New Year's will soon fall in love.
User @annadstoddard posted that after she ate grapes under a table she got lucky in love. Footage shows her putting a twisted napkin ring on what appears to be her partner's finger.
TikTok user @helenguillen — now @helengmorales — posted in 2022 that she ate grapes underneath the table on New Year's Eve and got engaged afterward. In the video, she shows off her engagement ring.
