The 12826, the number that reproduces the date of the total solar eclipse of last August 12 —12/8/26—, has become one of the most sought-after tickets for the Extraordinary Christmas Draw of 2026. The available stock at Loterías Pepito Herranz, in San Lorenzo de El Escorial (Madrid), has flown after a demand that began months before the astronomical phenomenon and skyrocketed during the summer.
The number is fully registered in administration number 1 of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, located on Calle del Rey. In total, 205 series, that is, 2,050 tickets, were assigned to this establishment for the Christmas Draw, as explained by its manager, Iván Herranz, to EFE.
The number search engine consulted this Tuesday already shows 12826 as "not available" and points to Loterías Pepito Herranz as the administration where its 205 series were registered.
A number that the administration was already selling before the eclipse
The story of 12826 did not start as a campaign to take advantage of the eclipse. On the contrary. As Herranz recounted to EFE, it is one of the paid numbers that the administration has been selling for years. It was the astronomy enthusiasts themselves who alerted the establishment to the coincidence.
The first calls came in February from an astronomical association in Palencia. The explanation was in the five digits: 12826 can be read as 12-8-26, the date on which Spain experienced the total solar eclipse.
Interest grew as August 12 approached. The local newspaper Crónica de Abantos was already warning on the eve of the eclipse about the demand that the number was generating and the possibility that it would run out before the Christmas Draw celebration.
From 300 available tickets to the last 50
The administration had to first attend to its regular customers. Companies, groups, and individuals have been playing 12826 for years, so part of the 205 series was committed before the eclipse turned the number into an object of desire.
Once those reservations were made, around 300 tickets remained available for the public. Loterías Pepito Herranz set up a specific page to sell them and limited purchases to one ticket per person to try to distribute them among as many players as possible.
The 300 sold out.
Last Friday, the administration decided to put on sale another 50 tenths, the last ones it had available, maintaining the restriction of one per buyer. "It has been crazy," summarized Herranz to EFE when explaining the demand received.
The query made this Tuesday to the Christmas Lottery number search engine already indicates that 12826 is not available, after the release of those last tenths.
The eclipse also plays on December 22
The appeal of the number is exclusively in its meaning. 12826 has the same chances of being awarded as any of the other numbers participating in the Extraordinary Christmas Draw.
But the dates of extraordinary events usually provoke this phenomenon in the Christmas Lottery. This same summer it has also happened with 19726, which reproduces July 19, 2026, and which spiked its demand after the final of the World Cup between Spain and Argentina, according to EFE.
In San Lorenzo de El Escorial, however, the eclipse has ended up turning a number that had been in the administration for years into one of the most difficult to find four months before the draw.
Now only the second part of the story remains: to check what happens with 12826 when the drums start spinning on December 22.