The Christmas lottery in Spain

[Prof]

Nowadays you can buy any number you want . . . anywhere. It didn't use to be so - traditionally a number is only sold locally and hence you get the custom of making a point of buying tickets from any city you may be visiting.
- Hey Uncle Jose! Get me a number from Valencia when you pass through -

But not any more. For example this year's winner - 1st prize was sold in Madrid, Guipúzcoa, Jaén, Toledo, Palencia, Valencia (a lot), Sevilla , Asturias, Pontevedra and  Barcelona (mostly)

However the winning second prize this year was sold entirely to the employees and customers of seven Repsol service stations in the south of Tenerife, mostly at kilometre 54 in Granadilla.

This is pleasing because it is the cheapest petrol and therefore frequented by those who notice the couple of Euros difference in a tank of petrol.

Also pleasing is that there are 180 series of twenty décimos.
That is 3,600 of the winning 20 € tickets, each winning 125,000 €.
This means about 200 million Euros have just been splattered around the south of Tenerife.
How many tourists do we need to have that much spent?

Happy Christmas Everybody.

On the darkside though, the real winner is the government, who cream off 1.5 billion Euros even before they tax all those lucky winners.

[Pelinor]

I think the wifes seen the light with this con. Half the take goes straight to the government. Even one armed bandits pay out better than this at 76.5% (well in the UK anyway). I think next year she will buy €60 worth of normal lottery tickets you stand a better chance.

[Janet]

Well it's a great advert this year, a real tear jerker ... the guy who didn't buy a ticket at his local bar where they won ... and turns up to find find that the bar is a winner, and he missed out ... and ordering a coffee and getting charged €21 ... because the owner has bought him his share ...

It could be you, as they say ...

[Nova]

Excellent! 

[Pelinor]

The wife said its a true story?

[Janet]

wow ... !!

[Myrtle Hogan-Lance]

OMG how sweet!

[Prof]

Courtesy of the best programme on Spanish TV. Inter Medio (La sexta)

[Janet]

Just a reminder if anyone wants a ticket that the draw for the Christmas Lottery is on Monday 22nd, and will be televised live and streamed on the official website HERE. Mucha suerte a todos!

[Pelinor]

Well, the wife must have forgotten about her promise last year! At the last count she has shares in 10 tickets, which include two from Madrid and one from some small town just outside Madrid, The rest from the island.... Early days as I think she is planing to phone our son in Barcelona and get him to buy her one from there!