Twelve Grapes

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The Twelve Grapes (Sp. Las doce uvas de la suerte, "The twelve grapes of luck") is a Spanish tradition since 1909. In December of that year, some alicantese vine growers came up with it to better sell huge amounts of grapes from an excellent harvest.

The tradition consists in eating a grape with each bell strike at midnight of December 31. According to the tradition, that leads to a year of prosperity. Each grape is eaten with each beat of the bell. After the 12th strike everyone should have eaten all their 12 grapes, although this seldomly happens due to its difficulty.

The twelve grapes are linked to the Puerta del Sol tower clock, where this tradition started and from where the change of year is always broadcast.

This tradition was adopted also by places with a broad cultural relation with Spain such as Mexico, Hispanic communities in United States, and other Latin American countries.

• http://www.topics-mag.com/internatl/holidays/new-year/spain-uvas.htm