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Spain's Lottery Fans Seek Fortune In Tragic Date29 November 2001MADRID, Spain – Nov. 29, 2001 –As reported by the Associated Press: "The terrorist attacks in the United States have put a morbid twist on one of Spain's merriest events -- the $1.2 billion Christmas lottery. "Spaniards taking part in El Gordo, or the Fat One, choose numbers ranging from 00000 to 65999. This year one number has been in amazingly high demand -- 11901, symbolizing Sept. 11, 2001, the day of the suicide airliner attacks on New York and the Pentagon. "…Lotto-crazed Spaniards have a long tradition of linking tragedy and luck, agency spokesman Ricardo Canton said. "As the popular reasoning goes, a town hit by flooding, for instance, might be in line for compensatory good fortune so people flock there from all over to buy lottery tickets. "…In Magrat de Mar, 40 miles north of Barcelona, lottery shop owner Joan Hernandez chooses to sell the number 11901 every year because it coincides with the date of his native Catalonia's main holiday. "This year, after the terrorist attacks in the United States, he got calls from people all around Spain seeking one of his 200 stubs. "… `It was madness, absolute madness, he said." |