Record sales and endless queues at the Las Arenas lottery office in Barcelona

The Las Arenas lottery office in Barcelona is experiencing days of real euphoria just hours before the El Gordo draw. The outlet, known for its recent history of prizes, has increased sales by between 30% and 35% compared with last year, and demand for the El Niño draw is also soaring. From first thing in the morning, queues stretch beyond the shopping centre's entrance, and the establishment opens earlier and closes much later than usual to serve every buyer.

Víctor Fernández, who runs the office, explains that activity has not stopped since Thursday and that on some days he has worked until the early hours. The team, he says, has exceeded all expectations and feels fortunate because of the run of prizes it has handed out since 2022, with 12 major Christmas and El Niño prizes. This success has made Las Arenas one of the city's most popular lottery offices.

The outlet has become famous for its good-luck charm: a gold-plated rock which, according to tradition, blesses lottery tickets. Many customers rub their tickets on the stone and take photographs with it. In addition, surprise envelopes, containing tickets whose number is not revealed until after the draw, have become a draw. Last year, several major prizes came from these envelopes.

Fernández acknowledges that his greatest wish is to hand out a whole prize, since so far he has only sold individual tickets from the major prizes. This year, he feels he can achieve it, imagining the joy of sharing the luck among businesses, hospitals or whole neighbourhoods.

Demand for certain numbers is so high that some, such as those ending in 7 or 5, sell out quickly. Number 88235, linked to curious coincidences involving Pope Francis, was gone in barely an hour. This year the office has secured more allocations and a greater variety of numbers than ever, which has generated even longer queues after last year's success, when they handed out El Gordo and several fifth prizes.

Faced with the influx of customers, the outlet has opened a third window and reinforced its stock with lottery tickets from other offices. Fernández points out that many buyers have been more forward-thinking and have bought tickets since the summer, which almost exhausted supplies in September.

On the eve of the draw, the office opens at seven in the morning and will not close until the last customer has been served, even if that means working until the early hours. Fernández, who started in the business a decade ago inspired by his grandmother, says he will not close while there is a queue, even if he has to be left with unsold tickets. His personal story and customers' devotion to the golden stone add a special touch to Barcelona's luckiest lottery office.