Fun facts about El Gordo

Ticket-holders in the coastal town of Roquetas de Mar are celebrating after they won first prize – and a share of €640m (£470m) – in Spain’s traditional “El Gordo” (The Fat One) lottery.

The lottery’s top prize is capped at 4 million euros, $4.36 million, so there will be thousands of winners. People traditionally chip in together and buy shares of several or many tickets among friends, families or workmates in one of the most popular Christmas customs in Spain.

The draw pays out 400,000 euros for every 20 euros spent on a number – a total this year of 2.24 billion euros.

It comes this year just as Spain’s economy is recovering from an economic crisis and years of austerity. Lottery officials say that can happen because of the way tickets, which are pre-printed, are allocated to sales points.

The mayor called the win great news for his city in the province of Almeria, which relies on tourism and agriculture but has an unemployment rate of 31 percent – much higher than Spain’s national 21 percent jobless rate.

School children also featured hugely this year for the top winning ticket – with almost half bought from the Roquetas de Mar lottery agency by a high school in the nearby town of Laujar de Andarax, population of 1,600.

People in Madrid line up to buy lottery tickets.

Mayor Gabriel Amat told a local newspaper that he’s thrilled about the impact the massive lottery win will have on his town. “It’s very important for the town, especially in the hard times we’ve been facing”. Queues form outside lottery booths weeks ahead of the draw and on December 22 each year people tune into radio or television to find out if they are among the lucky ones.

It has been estimated that 75 per cent of adult Spaniards play the Christmas lottery and the state company which organises The Fat One reckons that this year each Spaniard will spend an average of €62.72 on tickets.

Children carried on the tradition of singing the winning numbers and their corresponding prizes aloud as they were drawn at the hours-long, televised event in Madrid.