Jolgorio, illusion to wait for luck

Yesterday at two in the morning, the Teatro Real's first visitors arrived disguised. Jesus Ruiz (48), is dressed in a white veil and Sergio (12 years old) has an elegant hat, despite the golden frost. Both arrived in Novales last night. Jesus, who is the tenth number 00001, says, "I've been the last to arrive for two-years, but my journey started fifteen years ago." "It was given to me by a lady. Why not get the first one if I'm the first to arrive? It is one of the 45 tenths. "Many give it to me." The Teatro Real courtyard is reserved for those who arrive early. They exchange glances and then sit down together. Eleven men are present, each with a different costume and origin: Cuenca (Soria), Valladolid Seville, Villaverde.

Half a million people wait for the Royal Theater's doors to open, just like them. Many people leave the disco wearing Santa Claus hats and elderly people are waiting for their tenth. Whole families walk from one of the main entrances to the Plaza de Opera. A Starbucks has taken over the facade of this iconic temple of singing.

They wait in illusion and joy as the stalls pass. The stage is already occupied with security guards who watch the stage. A dozen women dressed in purple hoods with M and 8 on their cheeks, some with garland scarves, and a few men wearing blue tracksuits from Parque Goya are the first to enter. There are also dozens of Christmas trees and Santas.

The first people to arrive are seated in their chairs and make themselves at home in the stalls. They are asked what they will do with the money if El Gordo is won. A couple holding six tenths of each hand is asked. He replies, "Share it," and she adds, "And buy a car." The scene is in preparation. The Christmas lottery in Spain will begin within minutes.

After the review of each number by the notaries, the sound of the balls hitting the glass causes applause. A lady makes a video using her mobile phone. A woman from Aragon sews the numbers she bought for her dad's hat.

Noel, possibly a family cabal. Family, 90,000. Setenil, 48,000. Belen and I. Group. And so on. New palms awaken when the balls fall from the window to the drum. Jose calls his family in Seville and says: "Here, we are, watching as the balls fall into a drum live." Although the second set of balls that falls into the glass pane doesn't generate as much excitement they are activated when the prizes are poured into a smaller drum.

The 31 children of San Ildefonso are lined up in elegant suits and appear as if they're on stage. The first two children to sing for the 1,000 euro prizes are a boy and girl. In yellow stockings, she reads the numbers precisely, with a flower in her black straight hair. In moccasins, a straw hat and sandals, he repeats the tune of "a thousand euros". Soon after, a fifth prize worth 60,000 euros emerges from the hype. "Warm we started," says Jose. When the stalls applaud them, the girl from San Ildefonso bursts in tears.

The voice of these children is a symbol of something magical that the public longs to experience. The emotion of those who wait for the lottery money to come, hundreds of thousands in some cases, for every tenth. The song of chance, the tune that everyone has heard. You are luck. Quasi-religious faith. The childish melody is somewhere between happy, languid, and like an epiphany.

The audience is lulled to sleep by the thousand-euro numbers, but then a prize emerges that awakens them. It is more if there are three in a row, and even more if the third award 1,250,000 euros divided into three provinces. An actor dressed as the Pope prays and an announcer stands from the box to broadcast the goal play.

Gallery.

>. Short recess, change of singers. Two children who sang minor prizes received farewell applause. "The fat man should leave early." More emotion. Jose says that he was gone last year around 11 o'clock. The second group of four children departs at 9:49 AM. Two children remain behind the drums.

Two girls, who are older than the previous two, sing the second set of songs. Other awards 6,000 per ticket. Some are very well distributed. Some people check their original tenth. Others have it as a photocopy, or as a mobile photograph. The theater is home to 200 people who are still waiting. When they are restless and start to get restless, they take walks down the aisle.

Brief dropouts. However, most people do not get up from their chairs. The first ones to arrive at dawn were not allowed to pass. Only one person who arrived at dawn managed to find a friend to steal it. Jose says that Number 85, a boy who left alone, did not say anything. The eleventh person to arrive, dressed up as a British royal guard, falls asleep within twenty-four hours of being at the theater's doors. He came with a friend. I don't know where they have gone. It took me a while to get there. I arrived in the morning at 8 AM yesterday.

People around will laugh at a photographer who zooms in just a few centimeters. One says, "A little nap." Don't you check your numbers? "I check my numbers on the computer as soon as I get back from work." The bass drum is replaced by the singing children. With the departure of the third child, clowns, sheikhs and cowboys are also involved. Again, a couple. They print faster than the previous ones. Although the pace increases, the monotony of small prizes can be frustrating. It has been over an hour since an important prize was sung. Sergio Ruiz and Jesus get up. "We go". They return to the town. "A relative has won some."

El Gordo waits. The last children are the ones to speak up at the last table. Aya sings the grand prize. Chourouk's mother is holding a baby in her arms and flies with her hand as if heating it. One of her friends has won the lottery previously. There are 40 relatives who have witnessed their children and siblings walk through the stage in different languages. A relative of Aya says, "I hadn't come to this theatre," and is a nurse at the Community of Madrid. It's exciting, it's nice. Despite the chaos of El Gordo's commotion, the girls go back to their respective places and carry on the music of luck until the end.