Ministerial plot, scam or luck? The story of the Jackpot that almost ruined a Government

One of the qualities that every good Government must possess is to be far-sighted, especially when it comes to economic matters.. Evil tongues say that in the 19th century there was an Executive who lacked this faculty, to such an extent that he ended up on the tightrope for a Lottery prize.. Santiago Alonso Cordero, a Maragato from Astorga (León), was one of the lucky ones who won El Gordo in a draw that was beginning to take its first steps in Spain. He encountered the problem when he went to claim his winnings.. At the moment he proudly showed the ballot that certified it, the Treasury Department informed him that there was a small problem: the amount of the prize was so high that the State coffers could not cope with that payment.. Santiago Alonso was not amused at all, but he was even less amused by the Government, which saw how the drums of bankruptcy resounded louder than ever..

In those tumultuous years when Elizabeth II reigned, it was not surprising that the Treasury was short of cash.. The incipient draw only made this situation worse. In its beginnings, the game was quite similar to the Primitive Lottery, in which you had to choose as many numbers as you wanted from 1 to 90.. Since there were different possibilities, the chances of winning a prize were much lower.. But luck knocked on Cordero's door, who did manage to get El Gordo. The amount was such that the State, which used this bet as a method of tax collection, found itself in the position of having no way to make the payment.. Your solution? Exchange money for property. The Executive gave Cordero a piece of land in one of the most exclusive areas of the capital: in Puerta del Sol itself.. Previously, the convent of San Felipe el Real was located on that site, which had become property of the state..

Cordero was clear: there had to be some way to make that land profitable.. The protagonist of this story did not hesitate to accept the offer and build the largest apartment complex that existed at the time with views of Calle Mayor and Puerta del Sol.. The house, designed by the municipal architect Juan José Sánchez Pescador in 1842, was dedicated mainly to housing and became one of the emblems of the city.. The Leonese gave this building its name, which centuries later retains the name of Casa Cordero or Casa del Maragato.

“Its seven interior patios supplied light and air to the comfortable and spacious suites.. […] The staircase that led to the main floor was ornately decorated with marble of different colors, as was the floor. The complex contained a total of one hundred sumptuous homes and, naturally, it was the talk of the gossip mills in Madrid, being one of the most prestigious and elegant buildings in the city,” say Marco and Peter Besas in their practical guide to Madrid. Hidden.

On the ground floor, shops and warehouses were installed, as well as one of the most characteristic premises of 19th century Madrid: the Fonda de la Vizcaína. This place was run by a woman originally from that province. It opened its doors to the public in 1846 and was characterized by being one of the first to offer a more European table d'hôte menu, adapted to the tastes of foreign travelers.. The Danish writer and poet Hans Christian Andersen and the English traveler William George Clark, author of Gazpacho, or Summer months in Spain, published in 1850, stayed in this establishment in 1865..

Beyond his properties, Santiago Alonso Cordero also had a certain political relevance in the liberal sector.. What's more, he came to serve as a deputy in the Cortes, being the protagonist of the gossip of the moment.. In fact, this illustrious character was known for attending Parliament sessions dressed in the typical costume of his region.. Cordero stayed in the city where he had developed a large part of his career during one of the hardest times for the capital, which saw it lose a large part of its population to cholera.. Finally, he died in one of the four pandemics of this disease that occurred in Spain during that century..

Cordero, who was also a friend of Queen Isabel II, invited the monarch one day to his palace in Santiagomillas (León). Such was the honor, that the man from Leon offered to carpet the entrance patio with gold coins.. Isabel was not very happy, since if she placed the coins face up she would have to step on her own face and if she placed them upside down, she would have to do the same with the shield of Spain.. Cordero found the solution and assured the queen that “there would be no problem, since he would place them on edge.”.

Benito Pérez Galdós, in Los ayacuchos, the ninth and penultimate novel of the third series of the National Episodes, describes Santiago Alonso Cordero as a person who “does not abandon the popular label of his maragato panties for anything in the world.”. He is a smiling and fresh man, with the face of a bishop, with somewhat constricted manners, in harmony with the traditional dress of his land, speaking concretely, sticking to the issues.. He became rich, as you know, by hauling supplies, and today he is one of the first capitalists in Madrid.”.

While it is true that the history of his wealth has been linked in part to the Christmas Lottery, there is no evidence that this was the case.. The newspapers of the time do not mention such an event, so it is not ruled out that the Maragato made some political scam with the Public Administration to keep this plot of land.. “The story of the lottery could have been circulated to cover up the large sum of laundered money that was needed to buy the land that was obtained by bidding at a public auction for the sum of 17 million reais,” say Marco and Peter Besas..

Over the years, the first floor of Casa Cordero was occupied by the Grand Bazaar of the Union, while the Café de Lisboa was located on the ground floor.. One of the darkest episodes of this property occurred on September 13, 1974, when ETA placed a bomb in the Rolando cafeteria, causing an unprecedented massacre and causing the death of thirteen people..

And the origin of the lottery?

In the 17th century, a peculiar draw called lotto began to gain followers in several Italian cities.. Charles III, during the period in which he was king of Naples, learned about the lottery that existed there and decided to implement this game in Spain.. The motive behind this feat was to disguise tax collection under the guise of a social cause.. In the Royal Decree of September 30, 1763, the monarch indicated that he had “considered it opportune and convenient to establish a Lottery in Madrid [..] so that it could become the benefit of Hospitals, Hospices and other Pious and public Works, in “that many funds from my Royal Treasury are consumed annually.”.

A century and a half later, in the same year that the Constitution of Cádiz was signed, the first draw in its history was held. The bills were divided into quarters, instead of tenths as currently, each of which had a value of ten reales.. Its popularity was such that in 1818 a special raffle was organized to coincide with Christmas.. Since then, Santiago Alonso Cordero and thousands of people throughout history have dared and dare to dream every December 22.