The draw of the Christmas lottery It’s just a few hours away from starting. The long queue surrounding the Royal Theater of Madrid, which at eight in the morning opened its doors to host the Christmas Lottery draw starting at nine in the morning, is headed by a hoarse ‘bishop’.
The fan’s name is Juan Manuel López, he is 43 years old and has been waiting in line, according to what he told 20 minutesfrom December 1st. “My wife says I’m crazy, but there are 400 people who think like me”he says with the last thread of voice he has left. He has endured all these days “doing relays” with the other people in line and being “very cold,” he says while proudly showing one of the tenths he carries, with the number 00000. López has been faithful to this tradition for 12 years, which remains the same, except for one thing: he misses that they no longer hand out chocolate with churros. In all these years, it has celebrated a fifth award.
Very close by are four friends from Valencia, who this year especially need the awards to fall after the devastating DANA. “We have come to see what the Christmas draw is. We really like the lottery and the other day during a meal we said ‘there are no eggs’ to go see the draw… and here we are.” This group of four friends from Valencia arrived on Friday and have survived the cold “covered and huddled together.” “We wear a costume with the colors of the flag of the Valencian Community and we carry the postal code of our town. It’s very much needed, people need a lot of help,” they say about their neighbors, affected by DANA on October 29.
Among the many people queuing to witness the Christmas Lottery draw are two residents of Ojén (Malaga) who arrived this Saturday dressed as “Pepa and Avelino”two characters from the early-century series Marriage Scenes, who come with their built-in armchair. MarÃa José and Virginia together fulfill the former’s “since childhood” dream of sitting in the stalls of the Teatro Real to watch the most famous draw of the year. The 16 tenths they bought this year were left at home and, instead, they brought photocopies.
A few meters away from them are two little girls dressed in tenth grade with their parents They have come “because we want to win the Lottery.” They sing the number of their costume, which is the same one they wear in physical tenth and to which they predict “four million euros” singing like the boys and girls of San Ildefonso.
The entire family arrives from Don Benito (Estremadura) and they own a bar where they have sold many tenths: “We come with great enthusiasm, to see if this year we are lucky and get something.” The little ones slept in the car while the adults took their turn in the queue, where they experienced “a lot of camaraderie.”