Spain’s ‘El Gordo’ Christmas lottery hands out billions in record sum

Spain’s world-famous “El Gordo” Christmas lottery distributed a record more than €2.7 billion ($2.8 billion) on Sunday, with the lucky winners holding tickets with the number 72,480 in Logroño in La Rioja in northern Spain.

Two hours after the draw began in the Teatro Real opera house in Madrid and around half an hour before the stroke of noon, the winners were known.

Another winner of the main prize worth some €4 million was a sports club near the Spanish capital, which had bought lots with this number and sold them to its members, as the Europa Press news agency reported. There was rejoicing in the San Blas-Canillejas part of the city.

“El Gordo” posted its first record at 9:17 am (0817 GMT), just 17 minutes after the draw began when the first of eight fifth prizes worth €60,000 each were drawn in record time, as RTVE presenters announced excitedly.

The draw marks the start of Christmas festivities in Spain and is one of the largest events in the country’s calendar which no one wants to miss.

There were lucky winners of this fifth prize and also of the third prize worth €500,000 in Valencia, the eastern Spanish region devastated by heavy rains and flooding at the end of October.

Television presenters repeatedly mentioned the disaster during the “El Gordo” broadcast. A couple among the 400 who had managed to secure a ticket to the opera house to observe the draw turned up in traditional costume of the Valencian “Fallas” festival.

Others wore Christmas hats or sported miniature Christmas trees on their heads. A huge audience followed proceedings on television from the comfort of their own homes or a local café. There were celebrations around the Teatro Real as well.

There were minor glitches from the pupils of Madrid’s San Ildefonso boarding school, who by tradition sing out the winning numbers and the prizes in pairs.

One girls started singing out the main prize of €4 million for a second time, before noticing her error and falling silent. There were no complaints.

Most of the lottery tickets are sold in Spain but an increasing number of foreigners are participating online.

The lottery, established more than 200 years ago, is considered the oldest in the world. Due to the total prize money, which increases annually, it is referred to as the largest raffle on the planet.

The top prize – the “El Gordo” for which the lottery is named – amounts to €4 million for a full ticket. This year, it was paid out 193 times – eight times more than last year, and as many times as each of the 100,000 ticket numbers is sold.

The total prize money represents 70% of this year’s sales revenue of €3.86 billion.

The draw uses two lottery drums. The first, larger drum contains 100,000 wooden balls with the ticket numbers and the second contains about 1,800 wooden balls with the prize amounts.

During the draw, two balls always fall simultaneously from the two drums into a glass bowl. The ceremony lasts at least around three hours as many smaller prizes are also awarded.

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