Q: what was the most surprising item we saw when we visited the Alhambra?
A: the lottery ticket pictured above…complete with an image of the Virgin Mary!
It was proudly displayed in a shop window…but that shop did not sell lottery tickets.
(presumably, this “fractional” ticket belonged to someone who worked at the Alhambra)
On a per capita basis, Australians are the world’s biggest gamblers/ losers.
Spain, however, has the world’s biggest, longest-running and most generous lottery.
The Melbourne Cup is often described as “the race the stops a nation”.
The drawing of El Gordo – Spain’s “Christmas Lottery” – stops its nation to a very much greater extent.
The first Tuesday of November in Australia is “small beer”, relative to the 22nd day of December in Spain.
El Gordo (“the fat one”/ “the big one”) is more formally known as Lotería de Navidad.
It began in 1812, originally to raise money to fund the fight against Napoleon; these days it funds “good causes”.
The Iberian Peninsula was a late adopter of Christmas trees; so, within Spain, the oft-made claim that “El Gordo is older than the Christmas tree” is true/ish.
More than 200 years later, it is generally reckoned that the overwhelming majority of Spanish citizens – up to 90%, allegedly – “invest” in a ticket, every year.
No other big lottery “returns” such a high percentage of its “pool” to its successful “investors”
El Gordo’s particular genius is its ticketing system; a “full” ticket is “prohibitively” expensive, but a “share” system sees people band together – each buying a “fractional” ticket that is part of one “full” ticket.
This means that the big prizes – which can be eye-wateringly huge – are usually shared among groups of friends, family, neighbours or workmates.
On 22nd December 2025, the biggest winners were some residents of La Bañeza, a village in a region that had recently been devastated by huge wildfires.
They won the equivalent of circa 810 million Australian dollars!
Click here for an interesting explanation of the lottery’s history and how it works.
Click this for BBC News account of the 2025 edition.
—-
Coming up next: a series that looks down – sometimes from a great height, but not always.
In some instances the “aerial perspective” vantage point will be closer to its focal point than my head is to my feet!
(Later in 2026 Pelican Yoga will take a more detailed look at various aspects of Morocco and Andalucia)
Comments