Two inhabitants of Olot (Catalonia) won 125,000 euros each during the famous Christmas lottery which thrills the whole of Spain. The course of one of them caught the attention.
This Thursday, December 22, no less than 2.7 billion euros were at stake during the Gordo, the famous Spanish lottery which stops an entire country from living for a few hours. And for good reason, here, no single jackpot at stake but tenths of the same ticket which allow the luckiest to win up to several hundred thousand euros.
And each year, the winners come from all over Spain and are celebrated immediately after the deliciously old-fashioned charm draw.
This Thursday, Catalonia won more than 156 million euros in total with, in particular, the Gordo, the jackpot, which fell in Barcelona and a rain of millions which fell on Puigcerdà very close to the French border . But it was the winner of part of the second batch, a resident of Olot, in the heart of the Catalan volcanoes, who caught the eye.
He was playing for the first time
Ibrahim and his friend Modi had indeed bought, two days before, one of the tickets N°0474. A first participation in the Christmas lottery for Ibrahim, encouraged to play by his friend, which turned out to be a masterstroke since they both won 125,000 euros each.
An unexpected sum for the two Gambians. Arrived in Spain at the age of 12, Modi, currently unemployed, sees there the opportunity “to provide for the needs of his family” as he explained to the journalists present en masse in front of the point of sale of ‘Olot where he has lived for 30 years.
A long journey to Olot
Ibrahim Kanté, he arrived more recently in Spain. After spending part of his adolescence in Mali, he took the road to Europe, “by bus”, via “Burkina Faso, Ghana, Cameroon, Nigeria, Algeria, Morocco then Libya “.
Like most migrants, he reached Italy by sea before finding refuge in Olot, Catalonia, in 2017. All after a long journey of ten years.
Now with proper papers, Ibrahim, 27, is married to a Gambian from Olot. Leaving Africa, he wanted to “improve his life”. His success in the lottery will allow him to do so while helping to finally launch the singing career of his dreams.