'LA ANTIGUA', THE FIRST ECOLOGICAL LOTTERY RETAILER OF SPAIN
Lottery Shop No. 134, 'La Antigua' in the Madrid suburb of Vicalvaro is the first establishment of this kind totally 'green', i.e. sustainable from an environmental point of view. Its owner, Victor Riera, hopes he can become a "role model".If “El Gordo” (the top prize of the Spanish Christmas Lottery), is sold by this lottery shop this year, we could consider it as the prize that King Belshazzar awards to 'La Antigua' lottery shop for being the first establishment of this kind which is completely 'green'.The image for the Spanish Christmas lottery tickets which was chosen this year by the management of Loterias y Apuestas del Estado (Spain’s lottery organizer) to illustrate the tickets of the most famous drawing of the year, is the 'Adoration of the Magi' by the Flemish painter Pieter Coecke van Aelst. This picture, among other figures, shows the famous Wise Man wrapped in a green blanket, green of course being the color of ecology. "In our country there was as yet no lottery retailer which was doing anything for the environment. There are some foundations, but these places sell shares of tickets with a surcharge, and use their profit to do some things for the environment" points out Victor Riera, local owner since last July.'La Antigua' has a CRC plan (calculation, reduction and offsetting), which will allow them to gradually reduce their carbon footprint, with the goal of reducing the energy consumption by 12% by 2018 and turn it into a "zero emissions" business in 2020.All the shop premises of “La Antigua” are designed to work in favour of the environment: energy supply is from renewable sources, office equipment is environmentally friendly, waste is collected selectively in different containers, the lighting system installed includes LED technology and the toilet has an efficient system of saving water.Lastly, another green touch in this lottery shop is decorative plants which Riera says make that "an initially cold place, because it is white and blue, feel cozy."You can easily purchase your Spanish Christmas lottery tickets online at Lottery24.com.