The lottery is held every year, with life-changing sums on offer. (Image: Getty)
is eagerly anticipating the draw of a national lottery that’s once of the richest in the world – and Brits can enter.
The country’s beloved Christmas lottery, known as “El Gordo” or “the fat one”, is a national event held every year on December 22, and prompts long queues outside lottery offices and public celebrations among winners.
Part of the reason it brings such a communal atmosphere is that unlike many other lotteries, its eccentric system sees most hopefuls buying and sharing tenths of a ticket known as “décimos”, which can reportedly be bought for €20 (around £16.47) each.
Shops that sell tickets usually only sell one or two numbers, meaning those who win the largest prizes often live in the same area or are coworkers, as per .
They’re numbered 00,000 to 99,999, meaning there are 100,000 numbers to choose from every year, and the same number can be repeated many times across a number of full tickets, as per .
:
The draw is a major national event in Spain. (Image: Getty)
Though it’s possible to buy a whole ticket, the high price point (said to be €200 or around £164.72) is prohibitive for many purchasers, so people tend to pool together with loved ones in the hopes of celebrating a prize together.
Those who match the first prize with a full ticket win €4 million (£3,293,220) pre-tax, with a €400,000 (£329,298) prize for decimo ticket holders, as well as other smaller prizes.
Measured by prizepool size, it’s thought to be the biggest lottery in the world, with this year’s pot currently standing at around €2.7billion (approximately £2,224bn).
In the run up to Christmas, the draw brings huge festivities of its own, with families and co-workers gathering in bars and other venues to eagerly await the the five-digit numbers being called.
[REPORT]
El Gordo celebrations in Seville, 2022. (Image: Getty)
But it’s not only reserved for Spanish citizens, offering British and anyone else the chance to buy a ticket from a shop and win a life-changing sum of money to retire with.
The event is televised Teatro Real opera house in Madrid, with winning numbers sung out by children from the capital’s San Ildefonso school.
Two draws take place on December 22 to determine the winners.