Elsa Artadi is graduated from the Pompeu Fabra University in 1998 in Economics and the Catalan government's director-general for Taxation and Gaming. Last year, her directorate-general organized and promoted the first-ever La Grossa de Cap d'Any draw.

When I left school, I wasn't too sure what I wanted to do. Economics seemed to be, and actually is, a very open degree programme. It has a mathematical and more scientific side, and a more social side. It's also open in terms of potential careers. You can work in the private sector, universities or international institutions. I didn't want to rule anything out.

Even back then, UPF had quality lecturers, many of whom are still linked to the University. Nonetheless, I was taking a risk. Being so new, nobody could guarantee what its future held. Happily, things went very well and today it's a great university.

Almost everybody must find the years they spend studying for a degree to be the best of their life. It's a time I have great memories of. You meet lots of people and discover new ideas, and you're full of energy and ambition.

Yes, it has been a platform that let me continue doing what I wanted. In my case, I carried on studying. The education I received was crucial, as was the help I got from my lecturers. I'm still in touch with them.

Very intense. Nobody realizes what it's like until they've done it. We weren't very aware of that as students, myself included. When I was teaching, I often remembered how lectures had seemed to me as a student and the things I used to discuss with my classmates, such as the questions that might or might not appear in an exam. The reality is a little different.

We've been preparing the 2014 draw since 7 January. Last year was a fantastic experience. We learned a great deal and the hours of work we put in together strengthened the bonds in our team. In the end it went very well, better than we'd expected. Our original sales target was €10 million, but we topped €25 million.

Catalonia has had a public lottery since 1986. It has suffered considerably due to competition in recent years and sales were falling heavily. We needed to take a risk or the situation would've become critical. A lottery such as La Grossa had always been a possibility, but the sales network lacked capillarity. The retail sector and necessity were the factors that gave us the final push.

Since 1992, all Loteria de Catalunya's profits go to programmes for helping three groups, namely children and teenagers; the elderly; and the handicapped. The Catalan government's Ministry of Social Welfare and Family takes care of that. It's an extra source of motivation for everyone who works at Loteria de Catalunya.

"All Loteria de Catalunya's profits go to programmes for helping three groups, namely children and teenagers; the elderly; and the handicapped. "

AThis year we've concentrated on strengthening our marketing campaign. We started selling tickets earlier to make the most of the summer, and in September we'll be launching online sales. We've also produced more series of each number. There'll be 100 tickets for each number, so people can share them. We've added a fourth and a fifth prize, and there'll be prizes for tickets whose first three digits match those of the numbers that win any of the five top prizes. All in all, the probability of winning a prize will be 20% higher. Another improvement is that it's now possible to search for your favourite number and buy its tickets. A lot of people wanted to be able to do that last year, and now they can. We're also organizing draws for the option of buying the tickets with the three most sought-after numbers, 91114, 02014 and 01714. The draw for the first of them, 91114, took place on 1 September.