A lottery in Madrid, Doña Manolita !!!

Posted in Europe, Madrid, Spain

We were back to my dear Spain again !! love it !! We came by car of course and took time to see new areas and old repeat with some of them as introduction to my sons and our dog Rex ! I rented a small house in a off the beaten path country town that was just perfect ! I like to continue the saga of our new road warrior experiences even if now with less in our family, This post is on my latest road warrior tour of wonderful sublime  Spain,  Therefore, let me tell you about a lottery in Madrid, Doña Manolita !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I.

Madrid calle del Carmen doña Manolita lottery dec24

The lottery was brought to Spain from Italy by king Charles III in 1771. The first Christmas lottery was drawn in 1812 in Cadiz. During the draw, on December 22 of each year, the children of a former orphanage come to sing. For 200 years, the children of the San Ildefonso residence, named after the orphanage transformed into a boarding school for children from families in difficulty, have been rehearsing the tune of the Christmas lottery before the big draw ceremony. I came into since 1971 with my mom Gladys and the tradition has continue with few exceptions on years away from Europe, It picked up strongly again since 2004 and never stop playing it even if long long lines see picture below.

Madrid

Doña Manolita came into the world in 1879, in the traditional neighborhood of Chamberí, in Madrid, the daughter of a master builder. Her first business was a tobacconist’s shop on Calle Hortaleza. But it was not until 1904, at the age of 25, when Doña Manolita would open Administration No. 67, on Calle de San Bernardo. What she did not know then, is that from that moment on she would become “The Temple of the Goddess Fortune”. At first luck resisted the lottery and its customers. They say that, to remedy this, Doña Manolita did not hesitate to travel to Zaragoza to visit the Virgen del Pilar, with the firm intention of blessing several décimos or tenths that she brought from Madrid for the crimson mantle of the Virgin. Belief, chance or perhaps the faith deposited caused those tenths to be awarded in the Christmas raffle. From this significant anecdote the die was cast.

In July 1931, it moved to Puerta del Sol and Gran Vía 31. In 1937,the premises suffered serious damage from the bombardment of Madrid during the Spanish Civil War. Throughout the Civil War, despite the difficulties that this entailed, she continued to serve her public. After the death of Doña Manolita in 1951,and had no children. Although she was married to a retired picador ;whom she divorced at the time of the Second Republic ; she died without heir. That is why the business ended up being bought by another enterprising woman, although of a different lineage, the Duchess of Montealegre and Lady of the Corps of the Nobility of the Principality of Asturias, María Dolores Bermúdez de Castro, a friend of Carmen Franco, and also of the Counts of Barcelona, groomsmen at their wedding. The current owner is Juan Luis de Castillejo y Bermúdez de Castro, Count of Cabrillas.

In 2011 Doña Manolita  moved to the current location on Calle del Carmen, 22  corner with Calle Preciados where she continues to distribute prizes year after year. At Christmas 2019, Doña Manolita made magic stronger than ever, handing out EL GORDO,(the big one) El Segundo Premio (2nd prize), El Tercer Premio,(3rd prize) , and two Fourth Prizes and Three Fifth Prizes !! Considered by many in popular culture as an authentic symbol of the city of Madrid. It has even been mentioned in literary works and songs by famous Spanish performers such as Joaquín Sabina, in his song In the Shadow of a Lion (1986) or Concha Piquer, in Mañana sale (1958) and its name evokes the Christmas holidays in Madrid.
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First of all, it is necessary to know that there is always a queue. Its hours are from Monday to Sunday from 9h to 20h30 , and the waiting time is usually between 25 minutes and an hour, This year the queues have been longer than ever. The almost 400 meters that separate the premises from the Gran Vía, which normally can be covered in two minutes, these days take up to five hours to cover !!

The official Doña Manolita lottery: https://loteriamanolita.com/

The Madrid tourist office on the Doña Manolita lottery : https://www.esmadrid.com/en/shopping/dona-manolita

There you go folks , another wonderful nostalgic, sentimental trip to my dear Spain, A love affairs with my Madrid, as do not know when we will be back, we sure will have this trip in our hearts forever, Again, hope you enjoy this post on a lottery in Madrid, Doña Manolita !!! as I

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!

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Published by pedmar10

I am a lover of travels to Europe , Americas , Africa and Asia as well ,who like to share my experiences of the last 53 years with the world, visiting so far 81 countries; living in 6, working in 5, and Citizen of 4, speaking fluently 4 languages. I can deal with sports especially football/soccer and love music, arts, wine collector/drinker, and go out to restaurants, and just visit the world. My background comes all the way from Candelaria and Pajara in Tenerife, Spain where my grandparents came from ;not knowing each other then, to Punta Brava, west of Havana, Cuba. There , my parents born in Cuba met and later on I was born there too. 100% guanche (annexed Tenerife to Spain on April 10 ,1496). I left Cuba as many have to Madrid, Spain where I lived for 4 years. Then, move to Perth Amboy ,New Jersey USA (living there 13 yrs) ; where I completed high school, became a US Citizen, learned to drive a car, and learned English. Afterward, went to the university in Florida, ERAU, and upon graduation decided to moved there to Ormond by the Sea, near Daytona Beach, finally moving North Miami, then Hialeah, then another moved to Silver Lakes division in Miramar, Broward county, Florida; in Florida I lived a total of 18 years. Finally , moved to France in 2003 ,Versailles call me for its royalty, and working in Paris was great. It was time to seek frontiers again and moved to Brech near Auray, Morbihan in Brittany , and later move to not too far Pluvigner. Total so far in France has been 20 years, and counting. Moving average a home every 5.5 years hopefully this will be my last. Cheers All rights reserved. No part of this blog may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means or stored in a retrieval system of any nature, without the written permission of the copyright holder, me. No part of this work may be modified, without the written permission of the holder, me.No part of this work may be exposed to public view in any form or by any means, without identifying the holder as the author, and with the before mentioned permission.

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