History of the Christmas Lottery

The Christmas Lottery has survived crises and wars since 1812

It has been more than 200 years since the first Christmas Lottery draw was held. On December 18, 1812, luck smiled at Christmas for the first time, in a very unfavorable context, since Spain was at war against Napoleon’s invasion.

The draw took place in Cádiz, the only city that resisted the French invasion. The Christmas raffle was born at the initiative of Ciriaco González Carvajal, Minister of the Council and Chamber of the Indies, to raise money for the state coffers, which had to cover the costs of the War of Independence.

The first Christmas jackpot was won by number 03604, and the amount amounted to 8,000 reais, for a person who had only invested 40.

The Christmas raffle continued to grow with the expulsion of the French from the national territory, first it was distributed throughout Andalusia until, finally, in 1814 it settled in Madrid, where it remains today.

During the first years this draw did not acquire the title of Christmas Lottery, since it was necessary to wait until December 23, 1892 for it to become known as the Christmas Draw, replacing the legend of “Prósperos de Premios” that carried until the moment. It was necessary to wait five more years, to 1897, for this denomination to be printed on the banknotes.

Despite going through political and economic crises, Spaniards flocked every year to the call of the Christmas Lottery, seeking to be one of the winners of the Christmas jackpot, or one of the numerous prizes that are distributed.

Even during the Civil War, the Christmas raffle did not stop handing out prizes. As Spain was divided into two (republican and national) two different draws were held.

Curiosities of the Christmas Lottery

The Christmas jackpot has only been repeated twice, in 2006 and in 1903, the winning number was 20,297, while in 1956 and 1978 the winning number was repeated with 15,560.

Closely linked to the Christmas raffle is the name of Doña Manolita. The lottery administration founded in 1904 by Manuela de Pablo is the one that has distributed the most prizes in the history of the Christmas lottery prize.

As a curiosity, a few years ago two Sevillian friends who bought two lottery tickets, one in Madrid and the other in Seville, were very lucky. The two numbers they wore were awarded the first and second prizes.

In 2013, one of the people who attended the draw for the Christmas Lottery as a public at the Teatro Real, got a big surprise when he won 125,000 live, since he was the bearer of a tenth winner with 125,000 euros.

the christmas raffle

One day before the Christmas Raffle the raffle balls with the numbers and the prizes are publicly examined. They are counted and any of the attendees, with the authorization of the president, can examine them in a personal capacity. The balls are made of boxwood, which makes them light and resistant, and the weight of each one of them is exactly the same. The numbers are laser etched on each of the balls, so there is no paint weight.

Once the count is complete, the room is vacated and all access is secured with interior locks. The only exception is the door to the platform, whose keys remain in the possession of three different people, once it has been closed and sealed.

The room where the draw is held opens its doors at 8 in the morning. Access is allowed to all spectators who wish, with the only limitation of the capacity of the space. Half an hour after the doors open, the board that chairs and authorizes the draw is constituted. After the balls are shown to the public, they are mechanically transported in the hopper, a container used to take them to the drums. Finally, the drums are closed and at the signal of the president they are turned over simultaneously.

Around 9.15 in the morning, it is the moment in which the draw itself begins. In the draw process, a child from the Colegio de San Ildefonso draws a ball from the drum of numbers and another child draws another ball from the drum of prizes, these balls being sung by two other children, who insert the balls into the wires arranged to effect. The drums only spin again when a wire has been completed. These wires meet in a “table” containing two hundred balls of each class, being duly closed in front of the meeting table with the agreement of the president and the comptroller. When the table is filled, the four children who have participated in that table are replaced by another four, and the process is repeated. The Christmas Lottery draw ends when there are no balls left in the prize pool.