December 22 I turn to the Spanish radio at 8:00 pm. That sound brings me to the beginning of Christmas. From my earliest memory, I hear this on this day. I (and most Spanish people) then feel the same.
It is the „sorteo de la loteria de Navidad”. The children of the school San Indefonso sing the number as song. It is a monotonous sound that repeats till 13:00 . My children (” Dutch”) find it boring, for me it’s a lovely sound. I eagerly wait for december 22
It is a tradition that began 200 years ago and now 75% of Spanish still do. Even during the Spanish Civil War, when Spain was divided into two, it was played. Two lotteries, then, each in one part of the land.
Beautiful to this tradition is that people share with each other lot numbers, with friends, family and coworkers. If you win, then all the people around you also win. You share your happiness with your people.
Every shop, club, school … buy a ticket number and sells it in small portions between people around. It is quite normal for eg. A whole village “El Gordo” ( the fat ) wins the prize. Then people go to the streets and celebrate their happiness. They almost never win a huge amount for themselves because they are divided into so many little pieces. It’s really special!
Listening: www.rtve.es Monday December 22 from 8:00 pm
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