The twelve grapes

Nochevieja, step by step

1. la cena Dinner, late and long Families eat together, starting around ten. Many wear red underwear for luck.
2. la televisión Sit in front of the TV Before midnight everybody gathers to watch the clock of the Puerta del Sol in Madrid.
3. las doce uvas A plate of twelve grapes each One for every chime.
4. las campanadas Twelve chimes, twelve grapes One grape per chime. It is not easy: twelve grapes in twelve seconds, and many people laugh, cough and do not finish.
5. el brindis Toast with cava Eat all twelve and you will be lucky all year. Then the young go out until morning.
6. los churros 1 January: chocolate con churros Breakfast for the first day of the year.

• 31 December is Nochevieja in Spain; Latin America says Fin de Año or Año Nuevo.
• At twelve the clock of the Puerta del Sol in Madrid strikes twelve, and you eat one grape with each chime: twelve grapes in twelve seconds.
• Eat all twelve and you will be lucky all year; many people wear red underwear for luck too.
• After the grapes people toast with cava, the sparkling wine of Catalonia; on 1 January breakfast is chocolate con churros.

En la mesa hay un plato con doce uvas para cada persona.

On the table there is a plate with twelve grapes for each person.

A las doce, el reloj de la Puerta del Sol da doce campanadas.

At twelve, the clock of the Puerta del Sol strikes twelve.

Hay que comer una uva con cada campanada.

You have to eat one grape with each chime.

No es fácil: doce uvas en doce segundos.

It is not easy: twelve grapes in twelve seconds.

Después de las uvas, se brinda con cava.

After the grapes, people toast with cava.

Where it came from, and where it went

The usual story is 1909: a glut of grapes that year, and growers who sold them off for New Year's Eve as the grapes of luck. It is the story the piece tells. Newspaper reports from 1882 already describe Madrileños eating grapes at midnight, apparently mocking the upper classes' French habit of champagne and grapes — so the 1909 surplus may only have given an existing custom its push.

The custom has travelled. National Geographic's Latin American edition and Colombia's El Tiempo both report that it is now kept in several Latin American countries, and in Portugal, though not as a majority habit. Where exactly, and how widely, is harder to pin down, so treat it as Spanish with cousins abroad.

• The tradition is usually dated to 1909, when there were too many grapes and growers sold them for Nochevieja.
• An alternative account dates it to 1882 in Madrid; newspapers of that year already record the custom, so 1909 may only have boosted it.
• The custom began in Spain and has spread to some countries of Latin America and to Portugal, though not as a majority practice.

La tradición empezó en 1909.

The tradition began in 1909.

Ese año hubo demasiadas uvas, y los agricultores las vendieron para Nochevieja.

That year there were too many grapes, and the growers sold them for New Year's Eve.

Words for midnight

la campanada

the chime, the stroke of a bell

tener suerte

to be lucky

brindar

to toast

el cava

Catalan sparkling wine

salir de fiesta

to go out partying

Si comes las doce, vas a tener suerte todo el año.

If you eat all twelve, you will be lucky all year.

Mucha gente se ríe, tose y no termina.

Many people laugh, cough and do not finish.

El 1 de enero se desayuna chocolate con churros.

On the 1st of January people have chocolate with churros for breakfast.