03604: the Christmas lottery that was invented to pay for a war

By Rafe Calder

The Spanish Christmas lottery is held on the morning of 22 December. According to Wikipedia, that is the traditional date. It is a state lottery, it is very widely followed, and it has a history that most of the people watching it could not give you. This is that history, as far as three sources agree on it, with the places where they do not.

A note first. This is a piece about a tradition and a date on the calendar, not about how to play. We give no advice on buying tickets and no prize or price figures.

Started by a war

The National Geographic history site in Spanish tells it plainly. Napoleon’s forces entered Spain in 1808, the War of Independence began, and the Spanish government needed money for military costs. The “Lotería Moderna” was the answer. Its promoter was Ciriaco González Carvajal, a minister of the Council and Chamber of the Indies, and the aim was to raise public income, in the words both articles quote, “without harm to the taxpayer.”

RTVE, Spain’s public broadcaster, adds that the Cortes of Cádiz approved the proposal without a vote against, and that the lottery was set up in Cádiz at the start of 1812. Wikipedia says the first draw of the national lottery was held on 4 March 1812, which it calls the second-longest continuously running lottery in the world, behind the Dutch Staatsloterij, which has run since 1726.

Dates in order

1763: RTVE says the earlier “Lotería Primitiva” had been played since this year. National Geographic says it was set up fifty years before the new one by the Marquis of Esquilache. These are consistent if one is rounding.
4 March 1812: first draw, in Cádiz (RTVE, Wikipedia).
18 December 1812: the first Christmas-time draw, which RTVE calls the twelfth draw of the year. The winning number was 03604, written “3,604” by RTVE.
1813: RTVE says wooden balls replaced paper slips this year.
1814: RTVE says the first Christmas draw held in Madrid fell this year, and that the top prize went to Bilbao.
1818: Wikipedia says this was the first time the Christmas draw was “extraordinary”.
1892 or 1897: see the next section.
1913: National Geographic says the present system of drums and wooden balls was introduced.
1938: during the Civil War, two draws were held, one on each side, according to National Geographic and Wikipedia.

Side by side: the wooden balls

Here two sources contradict each other directly. RTVE says wooden balls replaced the early paper slips in 1813. National Geographic says the present system of drums and wooden balls was introduced in 1913. One may be a typing slip, but we cannot tell which, and we do not choose.

Side by side: when it got its name

The first Christmas draw did not carry the name. RTVE says it was only “special” by enthusiasm; the name “Sorteo de Navidad” appeared in the prize programme 80 years later, in 1892, and was printed on all tenths in 1897. National Geographic says the words appeared on the tenths on 23 December 1892, replacing the wording “Prósperos Premios”. Wikipedia says the name was first officially used in 1897. Three accounts, two years, and a reasonable guess that 1892 is when the name began and 1897 is when it settled. That is our reading, not a source’s.

Who sings the numbers

National Geographic says the numbers have always been called out by the children of the San Ildefonso school, and that the first time a child from that institution sang a prize was on 9 March 1771, under Carlos III, who it says imported the custom from Naples. It quotes a chronicle describing the first boy dressed in white damask with a curly white wig. We cannot confirm the quotation beyond that article.

The tenth and the share

Wikipedia explains the vocabulary. Tickets carry five-digit numbers, and each one is printed in several series. A ticket is sold in ten identical fractions called décimos, each entitled to a tenth of any prize. Wikipedia also says that organisations such as workplaces, charities, cafés and sports teams often divide a tenth further into shares, and that the paper recording the number, the amount and a signature is a legal contract in Spain and proof of participation.

Our reading is that this last fact is the most practical thing in the piece: a share written on a slip is a document, so keep it as one.

The 22nd and after

National Geographic notes that 22 December is also called the “day of health”, because those without a prize say that if they are not rich they at least have good health. It adds that a further draw, the “Sorteo del Niño”, follows on 6 January, named for the Epiphany.

What kind of sources these are

Wikipedia is open to anyone and the page flags that it needs more citations. National Geographic Historia is a magazine, and its page carries a subscription advertisement. RTVE is Spain’s public broadcaster; its page dates from 2020.

Questions a buyer would ask

Why does a Christmas lottery belong on a travel-goods site? Our reading is that it belongs to the season: in Spain it frames December, and anyone planning to be there will meet it. We list nothing for sale and name no lottery shops.

What we left out

Ticket prices, prize amounts, odds, sales totals, named winners and personal stories.

Quick answers

When was the first Spanish Christmas lottery draw? According to Wikipedia and RTVE, on 18 December 1812 in Cádiz, and the winning number was 03604.

Who sings the numbers? According to National Geographic Historia, children of the San Ildefonso school have always called them; the first recorded prize sung by one was on 9 March 1771.

What is a décimo? According to Wikipedia, one of ten identical fractions of a ticket, each entitled to a tenth of any prize.

Roam first. Shop later.

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