12 grapes for a New Year.

Hi everybody!

 

I'm here today to talk about quite a strange custom we have in Spain.

 

On New Year's Eve, when the clock strikes twelve, most of Spain is glued to the television, where the beautiful clock from Madrid's Puerta del Sol is broadcast.

Picture: ailmadrid.blogspot.com

 

With every strike of the clock, we eat a grape! They are called 'the twelve grapes of good luck', and it is believed that eating them will provide you good luck and happiness for the year.

 

This tradition is not too old, though. It is likely to have started when Alicantese vine growers had a grape surplus at the end of the 19th or the beginning of the 20th century.

 

So, to cut a long story short, in Spain we start every year by eating grapes. It is a quite exciting thing to do, and somehow we never end up eating them all in time! And of course, once the new year has been welcomed like this, we have a toast with champagne or cava.

 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year in advance!

 

Esther

Spanish Ambassador