Red Knickers

At our Spanish lesson yesterday we learnt about "La Navidad en Espana".

The festivities start on the 22nd with "el dia de la loteria" where winning lottery numbers are drawn live on TV from 9 in the morning until midday in a special Christmas Lottery. Although there are lotteries all through the year this one is the biggest, not just in Spain but in the world.

It is very different from the National Lottery at home. Firstly, despite the fact that ticket sales exceed 3 Billion Euros there are only 85,000 different numbers to choose from. But each number is given to 180 different "series" where each ticket costs €200. But as that's too expensive for most people each ticket is then divided into 10 "Decimas" costing €20 each. With me so far?

If you buy a Decima and your 5-digit number is drawn you share that prize with 1,799 other people which sounds like you wouldn't win much but the top prize (El Gordo, "The Big One") pays out €300,000 to each Decima.

On the morning of the 22nd Spain pretty much comes to a halt and the normal noise and chatter is replaced by the sound of children singing... Why? It is one of the strange traditions that each year children from a junior school are invited to "sing" the numbers as they are drawn from two very large spherical cages. In one a ball for each number from 00001 - 85,000 is placed and in the other 1,787 balls representing the prizes. Over the course of the morning prizes and their corresponding numbers are drawn. The tension and excitment lasts all morning and the 1st prize, el gordo, can be drawn at any stage.

It is very much a shared experience as from around mid September onwards, when the first tickets go on sale, clubs, societies, bars, offices and factories choose a number and that number is then purchased by everyone belonging to that organisation. Also, the street sellers in any one town will only have one or two different numbers to sell which is why you often hear about a town winning the lottery as everyone who shares the top prize will be from the same area.

Buying a ticket isn't just about choosing the right number, it's also about wearing the right clothes. Wearing red underwear over the Christmas period is supposed to bring you good luck which explains why the local market stalls have been full of red pants, bras and knickers over the past few weeks. I'll have to have a rummage through my drawers to see what I can find!