Spain holds huge Christmas lottery with virus restrictions
22 December 2020, 13:14
The El Gordo lottery, staged each year on December 22, is ranked as the world’s richest for the total prize money involved.
Spain’s bumper Christmas lottery, known as El Gordo (The Fat One), has been held under tight conditions because of the coronavirus pandemic.
In keeping with tradition, the number that took top prize was called out by children from Madrid’s San Ildefonso school in a nationally televised draw at the city’s Teatro Real opera house.
The lottery will shell out 400,000 euros (£364,000), or some 325,000 euros (£296,000) after tax, to holders of 20-euro (£18.20) tickets bearing the top prize number – 72897.
The incredibly popular lottery is dishing out a total of 2.4 billion euros (£2.2 billion) in prizes this year, much of it in small prizes.
Other lotteries have bigger individual top prizes but Spain’s Christmas lottery, staged each year on December 22, is ranked as the world’s richest for the total prize money involved.
The lottery was held without an audience this year, while organisers and participants on the theatre’s stage donned masks and took PCR tests beforehand.
The children were allowed to remove the masks briefly as they sang out the numbers and prizes.
Families, friends and co-workers traditionally buy the 20-euro tickets, or “decimos” (tenths), together as part of a Christmas tradition.
They then wait in hope that fortune may shine on them.
Normally, jubilant street and bar scenes follow of winners celebrating with uncorked bottles of sparkling wine, but this year authorities have urged much caution because of the virus.
Spain established its national lottery as a charity in 1763 during the reign of King Carlos III.
Its objective later became to shore up state coffers.
It also helps several charities.
