New Year: Why are you eating 12 grapes? | the Chronicle

The end of the year party is yet to come and that means we have to start preparing to fulfill the famous tradition of eating the 12 grapes as the clock strikes 0 o’clock on January 1st.

All over the world, various traditions are implemented during this celebration; for example, wearing colorful underwear to attract money, love or health. Or clothes in general. Another tradition is to eat the 12 grapes at the time of the arrival of a new year.

How did this tradition start?

There are different versions of the beginning of this tradition. One of them is that In the 19th century, Spanish families, belonging to the aristocracy, used to drink wine on the arrival of a new year and this was accompanied by grapes, which were only used as simple ornaments, so the company decided to imitate them in a sense of mockery towards this practice.

Another of the origins is that thIn 1909 there was a good harvest of grapes, so the farmers decided to sell them as “Lucky Grapes”, and people decided to save them for New Years dinner and eat them right before the end of the year.

What does it mean to eat 12 grapes on the New Year?

Its meaning is simple; Each grape represents a wish, or failing that, a goal for the new year. Grapes are also believed to symbolize the 12 months of the year.

Tradition has it that all 12 grapes (not one more, not one less) are consumed as soon as the clock strikes 0 on the first day of the year, exactly during the first minute. The reward? Prosperity within 365 days of the cycle that begins.

It is difficult to eat all 12 grapes in a single minute, but if you do, it is believed that there will be good luck all year round. So get ready to try and eat them all in 60 seconds, as that can bode well for what awaits you in 2021.