Why are 12 grapes eaten to receive the New Year? An explanation of this and other rituals for 2023

New Year It is a party full of optimism, a night when the calendar change gives the illusion that everything can improve, from personal finances to happiness. But, beyond the goals that one sets for the coming year, many think that it is worth giving them an extra push by following different traditions and superstitions to the letter.

In Latin America There are numerous customs for New Years. At BBC Mundo we tell you four of the most widespread and their origins.

12 grapes at midnight

The tradition of eating 12 grapes at exactly 12 midnight came to Latin America from Spain.

To have 12 months of good luck and prosperity, it is necessary to eat a grape with the sound of each stroke of midnight.

According to the book “España”, by the American journalist Jeff Koehler, there are two theories about the origins of this ancient custom.

The first dates back to the 1880s. According to newspapers of the time, the Spanish bourgeois class, imitating the French, began to celebrate New Year’s Eve by eating grapes and drinking sparkling wine.

“Shortly thereafter, this custom was adopted by certain Madrileños who went to the Puerta del Sol to hear the midnight bells and, most likely ironically or mockingly, eat grapes like the upper class,” Koehler writes in a article for the American radio NPR.

The second theory places the origins a few decades later, in 1909. That year, growers in Alicante, in southeastern Spain, had a surplus crop of white grapes of the typical local variety, called Aledo.

The low price of the product was added to the creative way of selling it. It is not for nothing that to this day they are known as “good luck” grapes.

Although in Spain one can find 12 Aledo grapes packaged especially for the occasion, in some places in Latin America, since it is not the peak season for this fruit, the custom has led to eating raisins.

other traditions

Arming a large doll with flammable materials and setting it on fire in the street is a custom that exists in various Latin American countries for different important dates. Several countries in the region such as Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela carry out this tradition at the end of the year, which is why some call the doll “Año Viejo” or directly “El Viejo”.

In general, the idea is to get together with family, neighbors and friends to create dolls that represent negative events or characters of the year that is ending and then burn them to put an end to them and leave them behind. Just as this tradition has multiple variants, it also has different origins. One of the most interesting, however, is that of Ecuador, where this event is increasingly becoming a tourist attraction.

Although the burning of the doll today is linked to creativity and a sense of humor, it arose in 1895 in the city of Guayaquil in a very different context. ”Historical data indicates that at that time, the population of Guayaquil was threatened by an outbreak of yellow fever, which is why, as a sanitary protection measure, it was recommended to make ramadas and straw figures with the clothes of relatives who had died” , informs the Ministry of Tourism of Ecuador on its website.

“These were placed on public roads on the last day of the year and at zero hours they were burned,” he adds.

Another cabal consists of going to the sea at midnight and jumping seven waves asking for seven wishes. It is a custom that is practiced in some Caribbean countries, but especially in Brazil.

The sea has been associated with purification in multiple cultures throughout history. However, in this particular case the tradition goes back to cultures with African roots.

Seven is a spiritual number in umbandismo and is linked to the sea goddess Yemanjá, who, according to this New Year tradition, gives strength to overcome difficulties.

Also due to links to Yemanjá, the jumps cannot be done with their backs to the sea because then the coming year will bring bad luck with money.

Even the custom of dressing in white in what Brazilians call “Reveillon” comes from umbandismo.

The Brazilian newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo explains: “In the 1960s, Rio de Janeiro dictated fashion (in Brazil) and the laity copied (these customs) from the umbandistas, who performed their rituals discreetly on the beaches.”