On 22 December, the vast majority of Spaniards will be waiting to hear the children of San Ildefonso sing the winning numbers in the Christmas Lottery draw. Who doesn't already have a ticket at home? Of course, perhaps you didn't know some interesting facts about the most famous draw of the year. For example, did you know that there have already been two occasions in which the same 'Gordo' number has come up? And that 5 is the luckiest number? Here we tell you some anecdotes.
The same 'Gordo' number twice
In the more than 200 years of history of the Christmas Lottery draw - the first draw was held in 1812 - only twice has the same 'Gordo' number been repeated. They were 15,640, which won the first prize in 1956 and 1978, and 20,297, which came out in 1903 and 2006.
Four times the same three digits in the termination of the 'Gordo'
Luck has also made the first prize coincide on four occasions with numbers ending in the same three digits: 25,444, 25,888, 35,999 and 55,666. Who said there are ugly numbers?
15 'cursed' two-digit endings
El 'Gordo' has never ended in: 09, 10, 21, 25, 31, 34, 34, 41, 42, 43, 51, 54, 59, 67, 78 and 82. Will any of them make the list this year?
The '5' ending is the most popular
Up to 32 times the Christmas 'Gordo' has fallen on a number ending in 5 and if we focus on the last two digits the 'luckiest' ending has been 85 (it fell on seven occasions). On the other side of the coin, the unluckiest ending is 1, which has only come up eight times.
Highest and lowest numbers
The highest 'Gordo' of Christmas came out in 2010 when the 79.250 was graced while the lowest to date was 00.523 and it was in 1828, almost a century ago.
The luckiest administrations
Logically, those lottery offices that sell the most are usually the luckiest. Doña Manolita, in Madrid, one of the oldest administrations in the country, has distributed the 'Gordo' 70 times, followed by La Bruja de Oro, in Sort (Lleida), the one that sells the most on the Internet, and Lotería Valdés, on the Ramblas in Barcelona, founded in 1905 and which has given out the 'Gordo' seven times. If we talk about provinces, Madrid is the luckiest region as the 'Gordo' has fallen there 92 times, followed by Barcelona, where the first prize has been awarded 58 times. Zamora and Ávila are the only provinces where the Christmas 'Gordo' has never been sold to date.