Estepona has become the centre of happy celebration after a ONCE lottery coupon sold in the town scooped a whopping €500,000 prize. Dedicated ONCE seller Rosario Tornay sold the winning ticket, purchased via card terminal, from her stand on Avenida Juan Carlos, where she has worked since 2018. The coupon left Tornay’s hands, unaware of who actually holds it and leaving her desperate to know who has scooped the wonderful life-changing prize.

All five digits plus the series number

Thursday’s draw, held on Thursday, July 2 featured Soria’s historic Alameda de Cervantes park as its themed design. ONCE dedicates each daily coupon to a different Spanish landmark, town or cultural site. The luck filled day rewarded the ticket-holder for not only matching all five digits but also the series number, boosting the payout to the maximum amount of €500,000.

Seller overwhelmed by big win

“I thought last night the number looked familiar, but I never imagined it could actually win,” Tornay admitted, still struggling to take in the news. “I still can’t quite believe it, I need to find out who’s won.”

Describing her connection with regular customers, she said the win feels personal. “People are part of my daily life, that’s what this job is about. So when one of them wins, you really feel it as your own.” She added that she’s looking forward to celebrating with the winner once they come forward.

Local residents react on Facebook

News of the win prompted a flurry of comments on ONCE Andalucia’s Facebook page. One local wished Tornay well, writing: “Congratulations to the lucky winner, keep the streak going and hand out plenty more prizes, let’s see if the rest of us get lucky too.”
Another commenter, praised Tornay’s role in the win: “Luck smiles on those who work for it, and in this case ONCE has rewarded your good work. I hope they remember you, since you’re the one who brought them the luck.”

Other prizes land across Andalucia and the Canary Islands

Thursday’s draw did not stop there, further rewards of €35,000 were distributed in Huelva, Siles and Fuengirola, with remaining prizes going to winners in the Canary Islands.

ONCE has reiterated that its lottery products form part of a responsible gaming scheme, incorporating safeguards from design through to sale, including a strict ban on selling tickets to minors and on credit-based purchases.

Farmers and food producers in Alhaurin el Grande and Coin have officially launched the historic 2026 harvest of the region’s most famous gourmet vegetable. The Tomate Huevo Toro. Recent rainfall has finally brought an end to a punishing dry spell across the Guadalhorce Valley, clearing the way for an incredible 1.5 million kilograms of this luxury crop to hit local markets this summer.

Known affectionately to locals as the “King of the Orchard,” a variety of heirloom tomato is massive in size, has a rich meaty texture, and rugged, heart-like shape appearance.

A bumper crop for Andalucian farmers

Growers estimate that roughly 230,000 individual plants have been cultivated across traditional bancales, the stepped, terraced plots carved into the regional hillsides.

The official summer campaign kicked off with a special tour of a heritage orchard in Alhaurin el Grande, where town mayor Anthony Bermudez praised local families for safeguarding the traditional agricultural landscape. This heritage farming method relies entirely on a labour-intensive encañado system, where farmers hand-build structures out of wild river reeds to support the immense weight of the plants. Even though the outdoor weather conditions mean the harvest is arriving slightly later than usual, agricultural experts confirm the quality is exceptional, reinforcing its reputation as one of the most exclusive tomato varieties in the world.

Creative cold soups celebrate the launch

Following the farm tour in Alhaurin el Grande, the foody festivities moved over to the neighbouring Coin Agro-food Market. Top local chefs gathered to showcase diverse interpretations of gazpacho. Dishes ranged from a rustic, hand-crushed gazpacho majao blended with fresh seasonal fruit, to more modern, contemporary variations using strawberries and local goat’s cheese.

Another traditional favourite was porra, a much thicker, creamier cousin of gazpacho originating from nearby Antequera. Unlike drinkable gazpacho, porra is a dense puree created by pounding sourdough bread, fresh garlic, and extra virgin olive oil together, which is eaten with a spoon and typically garnished with hard-boiled egg and cured Spanish ham.

Summer events for food lovers

More than 2,000 local families depend heavily on this single seasonal harvest, which proudly carries the Sabor a Malaga (Taste of Malaga) regional quality brand. International residents and visiting food lovers can follow a month-long gastronomic restaurant route running across the province from July 31 to August 31.

Key dates for tomato fan’s diaries include a cultural evening on July 23 at the Antonio Gala House Museum in Alhaurin el Grande, followed by a charity golf tournament at Alhaurin Golf on the final Saturday of July. The seasonal festivities will conclude in Coin with the Verbena Tomatera, open-air summer street festival on August 13 and 14, and then the cherry on the cake, the famous annual tomato auction on August 15 in the town’s Parque de San Agustin, where last year’s event saw a small box of tomatoes sold for a record €18,000.