Not an ordinarily superstitious people, Germans have become believers in Paul's possible psychic powers.
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"This is not a good omen," wrote Bild newspaper's online edition after the news of Paul's pick flashed across Germany.
Two national networks interrupted their programming on Tuesday for live coverage of Paul's latest forecast, and groans of disappointment rang out across Germany after Paul went for a container with a morsel of food in it bearing the Spanish flag.
"We were all a little bit shocked when Paul picked Spain," said Tanja Munzig, a spokeswoman for Sea Life in Oberhausen. "To err is not only human - animals can also make mistakes. Let's hope Paul got this one wrong."
Germans stunned by Paul's decision to pick Spain took consolation in the fact that Paul got one of his five picks wrong at the Euro in 2008. Oddly enough it also involved Spain: In the final Paul picked Germany over Spain. But Spain won 1-0.
It was Paul's only inaccurate pick of that tournament. He has never been wrong since and has an overall record of 9-1.
"Maybe Paul was just trying to give Spain a false sense of security," said Munzig, who said scores of journalists were at Sea Life to witness Paul's latest pick. Thousands of people have visited Sea Life to see Germany's newest celebrity.
"To be honest I'm going to have butterflies in my stomach watching the Spain match," she added. "I'm not a superstitious person but he's had an incredible winning streak so far."
Media attention over Paul's picks in Germany and abroad has grown with each pick and some commentators have even wondered aloud whether his uncanny run might even be having an influence on superstitious players.
Paul's winning streak may have contributed to a growing superstition among the Germany team.
