Lotto fever is rising in Spain as the top prize of the traditional Christmas lottery is drawn on Friday (December 22) with “El Gordo” (“the fat one”). A total of 2.6 billion euros in profits will be paid out this year. You can also participate from Austria.
A fever has struck all of Spain: “El Gordo”. Lottery fever always rages two days before Christmas. The lucky number draw takes place in Madrid’s venerable Opera House.
Singing schoolchildren as a good luck charm
There are two lottery drums. The first, larger drum contains 100,000 wooden balls with the lottery numbers. In the second 1800 wooden balls with the winning amounts. During the draw, two balls fall simultaneously from the two drums into a glass bowl. The numbers are sung by schoolchildren from the San Ildefonso boarding school in Madrid, which are considered good luck charms. The lottery is characterized by a continuous series of ticket numbers from 00000 to 99999. Unlike other lotteries, all winnings are drawn exclusively from the tickets sold.
Main prize and various additional prizes
The ceremony on December 22 starts at 9 a.m. and lasts several hours, because many smaller prizes are also drawn. The draw will be broadcast live on TV and online. The main prize, called ‘El Gordo’, is four million euros for a whole ticket. It is paid out 172 times because each of the 100,000 ticket numbers is sold the same number of times. In addition, thousands of additional prizes between 20,000 and 200 euros will be raffled. This year, about 70 percent of Spaniards are playing, and each of them spent an average of 66 euros on tickets.
Most lottery players participate with tenth tickets (“Décimos”). For example, anyone who participates with a tenth ticket and wins the main prize will receive a maximum of 400,000 euros. But there are also hundredth tickets for sale for little money. If you want more for yourself if you win, you can choose a fifth, half or full ticket. Some Spaniards have their sights set on very specific ticket numbers and go to points of sale to get their hands on those exact numbers. One thing is clear: the lower the bet, the lower the win.
Odds of winning 1 in 100,000
Founded more than 200 years ago, the lottery is considered the oldest in the world and is also known as the largest lottery in the world due to the total amount played. Even in small towns there are sales offices of the state lottery company. The odds of getting the ticket number for the main prize are mathematically the same everywhere: 1 in 100,000. Every sixth ticket already wins. Still, many Spaniards want to try their luck and buy the tickets, for example in a place called “Glück” (city in Catalonia).
Available separately online
Thanks to Lottoland, Austrians can also participate online and be part of the annual celebration. Tickets for “El Gordo” are available online. Unlike Spain, Austrians benefit from a special feature: in Austria, lottery winnings are tax-free. This means that Austrian winners get to keep the full amount of their winnings.
Source: Krone
I am an experienced and passionate journalist with a strong track record in news website reporting. I specialize in technology coverage, breaking stories on the latest developments and trends from around the world. Working for Today Times Live has given me the opportunity to write thought-provoking pieces that have caught the attention of many readers.
