The Leonese town of La Bañeza has gone in a matter of hours from closing one of the most difficult years in its recent history to becoming one of the great symbols of the Extraordinary Christmas Lottery Draw. The number 79,432, which won El Gordo, has distributed millions of euros in the municipality and has served as an unexpected balm after months of economic, social and emotional blows that had marked the entire region.
The impact of the prize has been especially notable due to the magnitude of the distribution. Of the 193 series of the winning number, 117 were sold in La Bañeza, making the municipality one of the main centers of Christmas fortune. A large part of this shower of millions had a clear protagonist: La Bañeza F.C., the local soccer club, which had been playing the same number for 17 years and which ended up being the great distributor of luck among players, directors, fans and neighbors.
The soccer club, the epicenter of the award
The number 79,432 was deeply rooted in the daily life of the municipality. The soccer club had been playing it for almost two decades and had distributed it in its entirety, with no shares, through its network of players, members and local establishments. According to the club’s president, Gonzalo Prieto, 670 tickets were distributed, all of them complete, which multiplied the reach of the prize among dozens of families.
What should have been a routine day took an unexpected turn when the first calls started coming in. At first, it was even thought that only the end of the prize had been won, but it soon became clear that it was the complete number. “I’m very happy,” Prieto acknowledged, stressing the satisfaction of having contributed to “making so many people happy” at a particularly delicate time for the town.
Bryan Justel, the young soccer player who gave away millions
Among the names that emerged after the award was announced was Bryan Justel, soccer player of La Bañeza F.C. and also coach of lower categories. With only 20 years old, he became one of the most fortunate neighbors of the municipality. He had been given several tickets to sell, but decided to distribute them among family and friends. Even so, he kept three tenths of the winning number.
The result was a figure that was difficult even for him to absorb. In total, Bryan dished out €2.8 million, of which will ultimately remain €2,296,000 after tax. “We have all the players, it’s crazy. I split them with my parents, my uncles and several of my friends. This is something that happens once in a lifetime. None of us is aware, we don’t know what to do with the money,” he confessed after learning the real extent of the prize.
The celebration did not take long to move to the soccer field, La Llanera, where the whole team gathered to celebrate a good fortune that, in addition to changing lives, could have a direct impact on the sporting aspect. The club is only two points off the lead in the 1st Regional Division B of Castilla y León, and it is not ruled out that this economic boost will help them dream of promotion to the Third Federation.
A difficult year finds relief in the lottery
This stroke of fortune comes in a particularly significant context for La Bañeza. The year 2025 was marked by forest fires that hit the province of León hard and by the closure of a century-old sugar factory, on which many families in the region depended. The loss of jobs and the feeling of uncertainty had left a deep mark on the collective spirit.
In this scenario, the arrival of El Gordo has been interpreted as a “boost” for hundreds of households. Gonzalo Prieto acknowledged that it had been a “hard” year and that the prize can now allow many people to “raise their heads” and recover part of the lost illusion. He himself admitted having at least one tenth and, although he was still assimilating what happened, he was confident of being able to “plug holes”, a recurring expression among those who see in the lottery an opportunity to alleviate economic burdens.
Everyday stories behind the millions
Beyond the numbers, the real impact of the prize is reflected in the personal stories. Severiano, a 55-year-old retiree, had bought two tickets of the winning number in a sports store. “I still can’t believe it,” he said, surrounded by onlookers and the media. His priority is clear: to help his two children and gain peace of mind after a complicated period.
A similar story is that of Manoli, who works in a churreria from which dozens of tickets linked to the soccer club were sold. Aged 56, she celebrated the fact that the prize had gone to a place where “soccer is a big mover” and where the community has very close ties. For her, after “too bad a year”, the prize represents a sign of hope for the immediate future.
