Spanish Christmas Lottery - El Gordo: Tempt your luck!
RocioHi all,
There’s something happening this week that makes Spanish people go crazy… ‘El Gordo de Navidad’ (literally ‘Christmas Fat Guy’)! On 22nd December, this Saturday, there will be millions of Spaniards watching TV (1st channel) like hypnotised from 8 am because the Christmas Lottery Draw is on! This draw is called ‘El Gordo’ because it is the most money played in Spain in the whole year.
Spanish people play the ‘Gordo’ as an old Christmas tradition more than a game. Everybody gets at least one lottery ticket as the one in the picture (’decimo’) to share with their friends, family or work colleagues. They cost 20 euros each, and these can be divided into ‘participaciones’ (tickets with the same number, playing a certain amount of money on that number). For example, if you buy a ‘decimo’, you can share 20 ‘participaciones’ of 1 euro with your friends, family…etc
The day of the draw, people gather around the TV to watch it for the whole morning. The children of San Ildefonso school in Madrid, who have been practising during all the year, ’sing’ the numbers and prizes that keep coming out from two spherical vessels (’bombos’). There are different children singing numbers for the whole morning, but when the ‘Gordo’- the biggest prize - is out, everybody gets very excited! Even the children who sing the ‘Gordo’ become famous for one day…
The biggest prize per ‘decimo’ is 300,000 euros, although there are hundreds of other smaller prizes that you can win!
You can get Christmas lottery tickets in different places: If you want to get a ‘decimo’, you would have to go to the Lottery offices. If you just want little ‘participaciones’ on different numbers, you can get them in bars, restaurants, shops, and other public places.
There are some lottery offices which become famous for ‘giving out’ the number of the ‘Gordo’ or other big prizes in a certain year. In Barcelona, there is a very popular Lottery Office just off Plaza Cataluña where a lot of people get a ticket from: ‘El Gato Negro’ (The black cat). And there is a very popular village in Lérida, near Barcelona, called ‘Sort’ (Luck), where lots of people from all over Spain go every year to get their lucky lottery number in ‘La Bruja de Oro’ (The Golden Witch)! It is said that this ticket office is the luckiest one in Spain…
Don’t you wanna try this year?
¡Que la suerte os acompañe!
Rocio
December 20th, 2007 at 9:19 am
Have you ever tried it? I am usually quite good with lucky things like tombolas, winning small prices etc. but I haven never managed to winn anything big. Maybe I should just try it and buy one participacion, otherwise I might miss a chance.
December 21st, 2007 at 11:22 am
Hi Elisa!
Yes, I play Christmas Lottery thanks to my mum because she always buys ‘decimos’ for everyone! It is also quite normal that someone gives you the lottery as a present. I have not had any luck yet, I am afraid!
But you should definitely try! If you are in Barcelona, now is the best chance to go to ‘El Gato Negro’, the famous lottery office in Calle Pelai. Yesterday, some burglars broke into the lottery office and took 100,000 euros in cash! This money is what they had earned in the last week selling lottery tickets!
People are saying that because of this misfortune, tickets sold there are now luckier than ever… So don’t miss the chance!
Merry Christmas, and good luck!
Rocio
December 21st, 2007 at 12:32 pm
So if you got broken into you are supposed to be luckier? I have never heard that before. But it does make a certain amount of sense if you believe in cosmic equality. One of my colleagues bought a ticket for 20 euros yesterday ( but I do not know where). I will ask her if I can buy a part of the ticket. I am after all not that greedy. I will be happy if I winn only a part of the money
.
December 28th, 2007 at 11:20 am
Unfortunately my cool colleague did not win the lottery. It is a pity for her but good for us. She would probably left work if she had won enough money and I would have missed her a lot.
Were you any luckier?
December 28th, 2007 at 12:09 pm
Hola!
No matey, I wasn’t lucky at all! Well, there are many stories from the ‘Gordo’ this year. For example, this girl in Galicia, she won the Gordo with a ticket sold in the bar where she works at as a waitress.
She and other 50 people who had won 300000 euros each were celebrating, free drinks for everyone, people coming and going in the bar, and when she went to her locker to get her ticket IT HAD DISAPPEARED! Somebody took it, allegedly her boss, who hadn’t bought any ticket! So now she is back to nothing. However, in January, when the thief tries to get his money, the ticket office will not let him!!
If your friend hasn’t won any money, she can still try in the ‘El Niño’ draw, on 5th January, for the Three Kings Night. This is also a very popular draw in Spain!
Rocio