A Senegalese refugee who nearly drowned on his journey to Spain is enjoying his 15 minutes of fame after winning Spain’s El Gordo, “the fat one,” Christmas lottery.
The drawing of El Gordo is a vital part of the Spanish Christmas tradition in many homes. The lottery is game postal codes, where people who bought a ticket in the winning district get to share a jackpot of almost $700 million.
This year’s winners were the ticket holders in the coastal village of Roquetas de Mar, who get close to half a million dollars each. One of them is Ngagne — a 35-year-old Senegalese refugee only identified by his first name — who nearly drowned on his journey across the Mediterranean Sea to Spain eight years ago.
Ngagne lost his job as a vegetable picker a few weeks ago and decided to spend his last money on a ticket in the lottery.
“There were 65 people on that boat,” he told La Voz de Almeria. “I want to give thanks to Spaniards and the Spanish government for rescuing me when I was in the sea.”
Ngagne wasn’t the only refugee to be among the winners. Imanes Naamane, an 18-year-old Moroccan refugee, said the drawing will change her family’s life forever.
“We will be able to do a lot of things – everything we want,” she told La Voz de Almeria. “We were in real trouble before.”
Both Ngagne and Naamane had to be instructed how to set up bank accounts in order to receive their winnings.
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