If you’re confused by all the lengthy queues at shops around Spain in the run-up to Christmas, then wonder no more. It is people queuing to buy tickets for Spain’s incomparable ‘El Gordo’, aka ‘the Fat one’ lottery— the biggest in the world.
Each Christmas Spaniards go lottery crazy, queuing for hours to buy tickets for the famed Christmas lottery and each year it is larger than ever.
The number of tickets on sale has risen by five million to 170 million, meaning the 2018 prize money will total €2.38 billion, with the first place individual prize, known as El Gordo (the Fat One), being a staggering €4 million!
With chances of winning at least something in the lottery put at one in six, no wonder the Christmas lottery has the whole of Spain gripped. According to the 2015 stats, three in four of the 34 million Spanish residents aged between 18-75 play the Spanish Christmas lottery.
According to Spain’s state lottery, in 2018 each Spaniard will spend over €60 on Christmas lottery tickets. The cash bonanza will dish out 25 million prizes live on TV this December 22nd—so make sure to buy a ticket and tune in for your share of the €2.38billion!
In other local news, we had a big lottery winner in San Pedro Alcántara on Saturday, 17 November. The big €600,000 lottery rolled out first prize of numbers 12531, which was unclaimed, but one lucky resident in San Pedro has matched the second prize numbers of 58946—and is owed €120,000—so check those tickets!