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Every December 31st, the twelve strikes of the bells mark the end of one year and the beginning of a next one, with the hope that it will be better and happier than the previous one. To celebrate the arrival of the New Year each country has its own ritual. In Spanish homes it’s tradition to take twelve grapes, one by one, at the pace of the peals issued by the clock from the Puerta del Sol to "enter with good luck" the new year. This ritual, which dates back to the first decade of the twentieth century, is mainly economic in origin and was launched by a group of vine growers from Alicante.
It was in 1909, a year marked by an abundant wine harvest, when the idea arose. It was such a surplus of grapes; producers looked for an imaginative way to encourage consumption of this product. Thus was born the idea of selling the surplus production spreading superstition that having them on New Year’s Eve would guarantee good luck in the brand new year. The intake of this fruit during the last minute of the year began to become widespread, and ended up as one of our most entrenched traditions almost a century ago.
Despite being a fully Spanish tradition, the habit of taking fruit just prior to the entry of the year dates from the Roman Empire. Some manuscripts show how Roman patricians invited friends to eat dates and figs with honey in January to forget the bad taste of things from the last year and the beginning of the new one off fresh.
But the rituals of entry in the New Year are a constant in the other countries. In Portugal, for example, they also use a grape based product to celebrate the change of year, but they change the twelve grapes for raisins, which are also consumed pace with the twelve strikes. In France, by contrast, they celebrate their joy consuming litres of champagne on the Champs Elysees in Paris.
In Italy, however, they celebrate the "notte di Capodanno" with a delicious dish of lentils, a food that according to tradition is essential for the trans-Alpines to enjoy fortune in the New Year. But in addition to the culinary aspect, in some parts of Italy, such as Naples, it is common to throw the old stuff out of the window as a symbol of a break with the past.
The Germans, for their part, wave goodbye to the old year toasting in honour of St. Sylvester, and receive the New Year with firecrackers and fireworks that are intended to drive away evil spirits. According to tradition it is customary to leave some remnants of the food at the plate until after midnight, as a way of ensuring a well-stocked pantry in the following year.
In Japan there is not twelve strikes. Up to 108 times toll bells the Japanese temples to commemorate the arrival of the New Year. It is a tradition whose purpose is to release the evil spirits in the new period; every bell refers to an earthly wish to be kept in the New Year.
There are one thousand and one different ways to attract fortune in the newly released period.
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