Earlier this month a woman in Condeixa-a-Nova in the Coimbra district bought a 10 euro scratch card on a trip to the café and she ended up winning half a million euros.

According to Diário de Coimbra, the scratch card was bought at Café Aquário by a regular customer of the establishment, aged around 65, on Carnival Day, which this year was celebrated on 4th of March.

Speaking to the regional newspaper, the owners of the space said that the woman regularly plays and, this time, she had "hit the jackpot".

"Initially, the lady didn't even realise she had won so much money," said Samuel Carvalho Lamas, adding that it was an employee who realised the happy outcome when checking whether the scratch card had any prizes.


"I don't think she realised right away," the owner recalled.

The woman was advised to take precautions and go to a Gaming Department to validate the scratch card and receive the prize.

In 1998, Café Aquário had already given another big prize, when a man won the Totoloto.