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If you are the sort of person who buys a Christmas Lottery ticket every year, you might want to pay a bit more attention to San Pedro del Pinatar. In the last seven years this small coastal town has hit El Gordo, the top prize in Spain’s famous Extraordinary Christmas Lottery Draw, an incredible five times. The first big win came in 2017, followed by another in 2018, then more celebrations in 2020, 2022 and 2023 as El Gordo kept coming back.

 

Locals joke that something has definitely changed in the town’s luck. For years they watched the four million euros per series that El Gordo brings go elsewhere. Then, over the last decade, that fortune seems to have turned and San Pedro del Pinatar has become one of the true hot spots for the Christmas draw.

 

 

The city of Murcia itself is not far behind. It is also considered one of the luckiest places in Spain when it comes to the Christmas Lottery. El Gordo has landed there several times too, with wins recorded in 1986, 2001, 2012, 2014 and 2017. Some outlying districts have shared in that good fortune, with Cabezo de Torres, La Alberca and Beniaján all seeing part of the big prize over the years.

 

Smaller municipalities around the region have also enjoyed their own moments of Christmas joy. Las Torres de Cotillas sold part of the first prize in 2019. Aljucer, another district of Murcia city, celebrated its turn in 2023. In that same odd numbered year, Bullas also distributed a share of the top prize, while in Cabo de Palos a single lucky ticket was enough to make someone’s Christmas very special.

 

The 2024 draw, held on Sunday December 22, did not deliver El Gordo to the municipality of Murcia, but it still brought in three significant prizes. Outlets there sold a third prize number, 11,840, a fourth prize, 77,768, and a fifth prize, 37,876. So while everyone now waits to see what 2025 has in store for both the Region of Murcia and the rest of Spain, the figures suggest one thing. When it comes to Christmas Lottery luck, this corner of Spain really does punch above its weight.

 

 

Image: wikicommons