What is a zabro? It’s a beetle that attacks wheat fields, especially when the grains are tender. Rafa Castaño knows this and has concluded the 25 questions of the Rosco de Pasapalabra this Thursday with this term and received the largest jackpot in the history of the program. It raised 2,272,000 euros. And he has 49 seconds left. Ha managed to complete the test in the most unexpected way: all in a row and without giving his rival a chance to try. In this special broadcast by Antena 3 between 10:50 p.m. and after midnight, the candidate has beaten Orestes Barbero, with whom he has been fighting for the last major prize for months. After answering everything at once, the last letter he faced was the Z, marking the end of his time in the competition.
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He is the third champion of this space phase since returning to Antena 3 from Telecinco in May 2020, replacing Pablo Díaz and Sofía Álvarez from Eulate. Although the mark of the previous record was 2,190,000 euros, a sum achieved by Eduardo Benito in 2006. Just a few days ago, on March 8, Rafa Castaño matched a record set more than a decade ago in the program. He scored 23 straight goals at Rosco, equaling the mark set by José Manuel Lucía in 2009.
Castaño, who was born in Seville, is 32 years old and has a degree in journalism, although he has owned a bookshop in the center of his hometown for a few years. The Andalusian is a pro in general culture competitions. Debuting at Canal Sur at a very young age, he went through Saber y Ganar before arriving at Pasapalabra, presented first by Cristian Gálvez on Telecinco and then by Roberto Leal on the main Atresmedia channel. Its first participation was in 2015 and since then it has appeared intermittently in the format until hitting the big jackpot eight years later. He is the youngest of two brothers. His parents, both retired, have worked as civilian personnel at an air force base and as a top-notch teacher, respectively, Atresmedia reports. The winner has a master’s degree in communication and culture.
Orestes (centre) congratulates Rafa on his victory in front of the show’s presenter, Roberto Leal (right) Atresmedia
Rafa and Orestes finished the stage of Pasapalabra on Telecinco in 2019 and are also the program’s golden duo since their return to Antena 3. In this second life at Atresmedia, both have been working hand in hand since June 2022. This is the longest rivalry in the history of the program in Spain, having made 197 deliveries on Antena 3 at the time. At that point, Castaño had already collected €127,200. The Sevillian has managed to win in 75 installments of the program and has played 64 times against Orestes, who was in contention for 360 installments. This result means that Orestes also has to leave the competition, which happens every time a participant manages to win the pot.
The Boomerang TV competition has exploded in viewership in its recent broadcasts after it was announced that the historic jackpot would arrive this week. It had an audience share of 28% when it aired on Wednesday, up from 27% the day before. That’s more than 12 points above the previous average for its channel this month (around 15%) and four times the other competition it’s facing this timeframe: Telecinco’s Chain Reaction (7%). It has averaged 23.3% market share and 2.3 million viewers during this long duel between the two contestants, making it the most-watched show on TV. If we only focus on the final moments of the competition, those of the Rosco, the fight between Rafa and Orestes has given great moments of tension in recent months. Since the two contestants have faced each other on the show, this latest test has achieved an average audience share of 29.3% and 3,243,000 viewers.
Despite the record in Pasapalabra, there is an even greater prize in the history of television in Spain. Los Lobos de ¡Boom! Valentín Ferrero, Manuel Zapata, Erundino Alonso and Alberto Sanfrutos (who replaced José Pinto after his departure; Pinto died two months later). This group of participants won the biggest prize in the history of television in Spain, 4,130,000 euros, which together with what they had accumulated made a total of 6,689,700 euros.
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