Next Friday, as has been the usual norm in the last ten years, many eyes from Tenerife, the Canary Islands and Spain, and even from abroad, will be focused on the Repsol La Chasnera service station, which since 2013, when it completely distributed the second prize (200 million euros) has been increasing the fame of the fortune supplier. Since July, when the Christmas Raffle tickets began to be sold, many Tenerife residents, Canary Islands residents and tourists have come to the receiver located at kilometer 54 of the Southern Highway in search of luck, while many others, even from Europe, They have called requesting at least a tenth. No wonder, La Chasnera It has been giving out some of the great prizes in each draw for ten yearsWithout going any further, El Gordo has dispensed up to four times (2017, 2018, 2020 and 2022), although in single tenths, last year eight of 05490, with 3.2 million euros. There are few who doubt that he will do it again for the eleventh consecutive year
Some even detract from it, because as it is the receiver or terminal – not to be confused with administration – that sells the most in the Canary Islands and throughout Spain. “This year has been very good, as good or better than the previous one, we are very happy,” says José Ángel González, manager of the González Group gas station chaired by his father José Miguel, while his brothers, Aarón and Miriam, manage the the Repsol gas stations at El Volcán in Arafo and El Porís in Abona, which also have lottery receivers, although they do not reach the sales level of the Granada station, where for a few weeks the lines have become endless to tempt luck. , because “lest I fall there again and I don’t have any”, the most repeated phrase when it comes to the Christmas Raffle.
These queues continue despite the fact that there are hardly any “ugly tenths left, with very repeated or very low numbers,” says José Ángel, and then remembers that “from zero to 99,999, all numbers are included in the hype.” For weeks it has been impossible to achieve the finishes 13,15,17,19, 23 and 69, in addition to not being able to get “the 5”, recalls the manager of La Chasnera, the most awarded finish in the history of the draw. Raúl de Montis, head of the State Lottery and Betting Society of the State (Selae) in the province, remembers, and the reason is not well explained, that “the best-selling endings are by far the odd ones.”
José Miguel González, the president of the group, was very excited for another year, after verifying that “we have given so many joys that this cannot be paid for with money”, proud that a top-rated news program dedicated more than a minute to him last week . “They have even called me from Repsol because of the enormous publicity that this represents,” while in the queue two of those awarded by La Chasnera were mentioned, a man who saw his tenth prize awarded last year, with 400,000 euros and a woman who in 2013 He got 125,000 with a tenth of the second prize.
“Sales are being the same or better than last year and these days it has been crazy, with people calling from the Peninsula and the islands, I won’t tell you, companies buying almost complete series,” says José Ángel González.
Her sister Miriam, administrator of the González Group, tells us that apart from those who go daily to La Chasnera or its El Porís station, “there are many who call to buy online or to make reservations, many who call us from nursing homes. , even a woman who asked us for several tenths because she wants to leave the asylum, or many people who aspire to El Gordo because they want treatment for a sick family member. There are many who tell you their plans if they get a prize-winning ticket,” she says.
The fame of La Chasnera and the González Canarias Group, which manages seven Repsol gas stations, began in 2013 when it sold all the series of the number 79712, imported from Murcia by José Miguel González to distribute at its stations, nothing less than the second prize (200 million euros), many tenths among the company’s 140 workers. Since then, with tenths taken from the La Chasnera receiver – it now has two machines, due to the great demand -, it has never missed the appointment with the grand prizes, giving pinches of the Gordo up to four times, something that only They can boast in the administrations of Telde and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. There is a reason why La Chasnera has begun to be known as La Doña Manolita de Canarias.
Average expense
In the absence of confirming sales this week, which increase considerably, each Canarian will spend an average of 51.49 euros in the lottery for the Christmas Draw, somewhat less than the previous year, although it is most likely that this percentage will end up rising. In the province of Tenerife this average is estimated at 53.78 euros, while in Las Palmas it drops to 38.28 euros. The islands continue to be well below the national average, which amounts to 71.67 euros for each Spaniard, according to data from the Selae. Only the Balearic Islands play less than the Canary Islands.
Raúl de Montis points out that the different administrations of the province of Tenerife have allocated 56 million euros this year of the 99 in the Canary Islands, an amount that increases with last-minute orders and the terminals themselves. This is two million euros more than in 2022. The island of Tenerife is the one that plays the most of the four western islands in percentage terms, although two years ago more was played on La Palma due to the eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano, whose date beginning, September 19, 2021 (19921) served to exhaust that number before October, recorded in two administrations on the Peninsula.
It is also traditional to look for numbers of other events throughout the year or especially specific dates such as birthdays, marriages or births of children, always trying to achieve fortune with numbers close to each player. And of course, there is no shortage of those who always play the same game individually, but especially through groups or companies, even though they have been empty for years. Hope is what matters.