In 1970, Ca n’Eubarca, a supermarket in Santa Eulària, distributed joy (and a million of the old pesetas) among its customers in shares of 100 and 50 pesetas from ‘El Gordo’. Up to 100 people were winners, among them Maruja Planells, sales clerk at the Sinuhé gift store, who was one of those who held the most tickets, according to what we read in the press of the time. There are many headlines that make it clear that Ibiza and Formentera were not very lucky in the Christmas lottery: “La suerte pasa de largo” (Luck passes us by), “El Gordo se volvió a quedar flaco” (El Gordo leaves us lean again) , “Las Pitiusas, olvidadas por el Gordo de Navidad” (El Gordo de Navida forgets the Pitiusas), “Poca suerte en las Pitiüses” (No luck in the Pitiusas), “Las Pitiusas se conforman con la pedrea” (Las Pitiusas are happy with the pedrea), “No hubo premios para Ibiza y Formentera” (No prizes for Ibiza and Formentera), “Ibiza, una vez más sin suerte” (No luck for Ibiza, again), “Los gordos no llaman a nuestra puerta” (Los Gordos don’t knock on our door)..
Ten years later, two families from the island took advantage of a visit to Mallorca to buy three tickets at the airport with a second prize of 12.5 million pesetas each. Maria Rosa Juan and José Coll had bought two of them, so they got a whopping 25 million pesetas. Catalina Torres, “widow and mother of two children”, bought a shared ticket. A year later, Puig d’en Valls “was partying”, as 6 million pesetas were shared among its neighbors.
On December 23rd, 1986, the then first deputy mayor of Santa Eulària, Mariano Juan, posed with a smile (and 10 million pesetas richer) for Diario de Ibiza a ticket for the for the 63,342, a fifth prize, which he had bought in Palma “one of the times” he went to the dentist with his wife. He bought two whole series for 50,000 pesetas, sold three numbers to his friends, who each won 600,000 pesetas, and the rest they kept. All of them planned to invest part of the prize money in a trip to the Canary Islands
In 1989, Antonio Arroyo Cardona bought six tickets for the 62,483 in the popular Doña Manolita, in Madrid. He spent 15,000 pesetas and won 15 million, which were “well distributed among the family”. One of the tickets was sold to Antonio Paredes, a friend of his, who celebrated with his girlfriend, Paquita, at the Eivipreu supermarket in Ses Figueretes, where he was in charge. Paquita took advantage of the press to comment that the millions “maybe” encouraged her to consider the wedding “more seriously”. The luck that year also reached the clients of Exclusivas Miró, which distributed 40 million in shares that, in turn, had given Licor 43. “It is not much, but it is a good pellizco to support the strong expense that these celebrations cause”, commented the owner of the company, who showed his happiness in spite of not having remained with any of the shares
Rappel predicted El Gordo would fall in Ibiza
In 1993, and despite the fact that the popular psychic Rappel had predicted that El Gordo would fall on Ibiza, the Ibicencos had to be satisfied with some ‘pedrea’. The following year, “three young employees” of a branch of the Bank of Ibiza in Jesús won 60 million pesetas. The three shared two tenths of El Gordo, which fell in Barcelona, in the neighborhood of Gracia, with the 49,595. Something similar happened to Inés Redondo in 1999. A cleaning service worker at the Policlínica Nuestra Señora del Rosario, she had bought eight tickets in Madrid for the 17,913, which won the second prize (14.4 million pesetas per ticket). She distributed them among her family and co-workers, so that on the day of the draw the clinic became a real party. Inés, mother of two daughters, one 25 years old and the other 12, explained to this newspaper that her intention was to use the prize to make a down payment on an apartment.
Ibiza then had to wait until 2003 for Christmas luck to strike in euros again. José Marcos Albaráñez made a “technical stop” in Sort in August during a trip to the Pyrenees, to buy in the popular administration La Bruixa d’Or, a whole series of the 42,473, which four months later was graced with El Gordo. He kept one, gave four to his father and the rest he exchanged with neighbors and co-workers of Dielectro Balear. He appeared in the press with them toasting and laughing. “It has been a tremendous joy,” he said
For the full article, please visit Diario de Ibiza website here.