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image source, EPA
Pearl with her two children.
In Spain Christmas officially begins on December 22, the day the largest lottery draw in the world is held in the European country, in which you can win the “Gordo”, the maximum prize that is awarded every year.
The coupon with El Gordo’s number is awarded 400,000 euros per tenth (about US$425,000) and 4 million euros for the series (made up of 10 tenths).
And this Thursday morning one of the lucky ones was Perla, an unemployed Peruvian immigrant residing in Spain and who had bought one of the tickets with the number awarded with the Gordo.
And, coincidences of fate, in a double carambola, Perla was in the hall of the Royal Theater from Madrid where the draw was held, which millions of Spaniards follow every year on television.
In his hand he waved the tenth after hearing the graceful number in front of the television cameras.
The 05490 It was the first prize in the Extraordinary Christmas Draw and Perla had just won 400,000 euros.
image source, Archyde.com
His children showed the media the winning ticket
“Buy a house”
Perla, who was born in Peru but has lived in Spain for 20 years, was accompanied by her two children, who burst into tears.
Meanwhile, the companions in the seats -disguised as tradition dictates- did not stop applauding her.
“Me I want to buy a house in Madrid and with this he will give me to pay for my children’s university,” he told local media.
“Another part will be for the Church. I am very Catholic,” he added.
Perla went to the Teatro Real in the morning loaded with 95 different numbers that he had bought in various parts of Spain: Valencia, Alicante, Barcelona…
“I had a feeling that I had to get here. In all parts of Spain that I have been traveling with my children I have been buying the tenths,” he told the local media.
image source, Getty Images
Live raffle attendees arrive very early in the morning. Many dress up
“Since I don’t hear well, I don’t see well and I have a bit of a cold, I told my son to look at the number on the screen and he says ‘now I’ll tell you'”, but I had a presentiment,” he adds.
Excited, she told her story: “Right now I’m unemployed. I was one of the employees of the Government Palace when I was working in the hospitality industry for almost 20 years. They threw me out on the street and I was collecting unemployment right now.”
“That’s why I think God is great. God does justice.”
“We are very happy. We did not expect this. We always come to the Christmas lottery with our mother. We are going to buy a house at last,” said one of her sons.
Perla confirmed this: “Last year we came and I almost took third prize.”
image source, Archyde.com
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