Tradition has it that for good luck in the New Year, and all year long, 12 uvas de la suerte (grapes of luck) have to be eaten at midnight on New Years Eve. Didn’t I tell you about superstitions in Spain, only yesterday?

Anyway, in Spain, there will be 12 strokes of the bell, in each town and every city, and from each parish church tower and every townhall on the stroke of midnight. You would be well advised to eat one grape per stroke, or so the superstition goes. If successful in this endeavour, you are granted a wish for the New Year.

You may find that the local corner shop or even your supermarket may have run out of grapes by the early hours of New Years Eve, hence my reminding you of this year-end habit and custom, one day early.

May I also aid you with a little trick in the endeavour: the smart Spanish housewife buys small grapes rather than big ones, and seedless ones at that. You’ll easily see that this makes the whole affair so much smoother and thus, easier to accomplish.

The photo was taken in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. The date: December 28th, 2007. The time was 12:38:17.