Spain lexicon O
ONCE
ONCE refers to the Organización Nacional de Ciegos de España, the Spanish organisation for the blind, which was founded in 1938. It gained its current significance when the lottery concession was awarded in 1984 and still primarily stands for the lotteries it organises today. The draw takes place every day except Saturdays. If one or more of the final digits of the number drawn matches the ticket purchased, a prize is paid out. The ‘El Combo’ lottery, which has been running since 2005, also offers chances to win on Saturdays. In this lottery, 50% of the stakes are paid out as winnings.
The tickets are sold on the street by blind people or people with other disabilities, sometimes in kiosks set up for this purpose. The idea is that of a charity lottery, as participation is intended to finance jobs for people who would otherwise not find one or would be very difficult to place. ONCE is also a very financially strong organisation with considerable property assets and is also a sponsor of the ONCE cycling team. Although the Décimo tickets of the Spanish national lottery “Loterías y Apuestas del Estado” are similar to those of ONCE, they are competing lotteries. The former organises the well-known Christmas lottery every year.
Oliva
See also Aceite de oliva