Eating 12 grapes on New Year's Eve is said to bring happiness and love

Eating 12 grapes at midnight on New Year's Eve is said to bring luck and love. At least, according to the Spaniards. The Spanish ritual, where this snack generates luck for the new year, is called ‘Las doce uvas de la suerte’ or: the 12 lucky grapes. TikTok is currently going wild with this ’trend’ and many people can't wait to try this tonight, but this is actually quite an old concept.

A bit of history
The tradition originated in 1880 when the Spanish nobility decided to ban traditional street parties during New Year's Eve. They were still allowed to celebrate, but only in private with champagne and grapes. As a result, a protest action took place on New Year's Eve. It was not forbidden to listen to the chimes, and the population came up with the idea of eating grapes that evening to quietly celebrate the arrival of the new year. This continued for years until clever fruit merchants saw a gap in the market: they packaged white grapes in sets of 12 to sell as lucky grapes. Each grape represented a month of the year, and thus this luck tradition was born.

How to participate
According to tradition, at the start of dinner on New Year's Eve, there are 12 grapes per person on the table. The grapes remain on the table during dinner and may not be touched until it is almost midnight. At 12 seconds before 00:00, it begins: you must manage to eat one grape every second. At exactly 00:00, you eat the last grape. If you succeed, you will experience luck and love for the entire coming year. So it's a bit of a squeeze, and that New Year's kiss isn't really possible this way, but it's definitely worth a try!

Source: Spanish sun