The Extraordinary Draw of the Christmas Lottery, one of the most popular in our country, will be held next Friday, December 22, so all the necessary elements for its celebration have already been moved to the Teatro Real.
More than 101,800 balls will participate in the next drawing on Friday, and they will all be exactly the same: balls made of boxwood, 18 millimeters in diameter and about three grams in weight. However, this year some balls will be replaced by a very particular detail.
In the 2023 draw, some 204 balls will be replaced. The detail in common? They all have the number 7 engraved. This change is due to their manufacturing: to avoid differences in weight due to the amount of paint they may carry, the numbers and letters are laser engraved.
In this way, the majority of balls that have had to be replaced this year carry the number 7 and as they are a little worn, part of the number begins to erase, running the risk of being confused with a number 1.
The company in charge of manufacturing the balls is Maba Online, founded by the father of the current person in charge, Marta Molinero. In an interview with RTVE she has detailed that in the past the balls were "carved", modifying the weight of the ball in question. For this reason, they began to opt for laser engraving.
The balls are not manufactured every year because their quality can be used for a long time. However, so that the children of San Ildefonso do not make any mistakes next Friday, some balls are replaced if they have a fault.
