(UPDATED with 2011 draw's modifications)
The Spanish Christmas Lottery, one of the most famous lotteries in the world, known as the Christmas drawing (Sorteo de Navidad) or simply the Christmas Lottery (LoterĂa de Navidad). The Spanish lottery is also the biggest lottery in the world, based on total prize payout. The Spanish Christmas Lottery was first organized in 1812 by a Public Administration branch now called LoterĂas y Apuestas del Estado (Lottery and bets of the State).
The first category payout is known by its Spanish name: El Gordo, meaning “the fat one” or “the big one”. Contrary to popular belief, the Spanish Christmas lottery itself is not called by this name, as the term only refers to the first prize. Every year the total amount of money destined to the El Gordo Spanish lottery prize varies depending on how many series are printed. However, the prize money per winning issue (billete) is fixed at 3 million Euros. This amount may adjust occasionally based on inflation but otherwise remains fixed. To get an idea as to why the El Gordo Spanish Lottery is so enormously popular worldwide, in 2009, 585 million Euros was distributed among those who possessed the winning El Gordo lottery number alone, not to mention all the prize money awarded to other categories in this Spanish lottery.
How many people can possess the same Spanish lottery number?
Each Spanish Lottery ticket in the Spanish Christmas Lottery is made of a 5 digit number. A billete (entire ticket) costs 200€ and consists of 10 décimos (tenths of a ticket) of the same number that cost 20€ each. Due to the high cost of an entire ticket (billete), most people participate in the Spanish national lottery by purchasing tenths of tickets (décimos). Each billete is printed many times with different series numbers. Each year, the amount of series printed for each billete may vary affecting the total amount of each number that can be sold. Additionally, the amount of total numbers sold each year may also vary.
How many people win the El Gordo lottery Prize?
In 2011, 180 series of each of the 100,000 numbers were printed. Based on these amounts, if all the series of the winning El Gordo lottery number are sold then there could potentially be 1,800 winners, if each one possesses a tenth of a ticket (décimo). To further complicate things, many organizations purchase décimos and then sell them in smaller parts called participations. If you take into account the amount of people who may hold participations, then the number of actual winners could greatly increase.
How much is the Spanish El Gordo Lottery number worth?
Again, the amount you win for each winning number is fixed, regardless of how many are sold. If an entire ticket for the winning El Gordo lottery number is prized at 4 million Euros, then the décimo (tenth of a ticket) is awarded 400,000 Euros. If the décimo was further divided among participations, then the prize will be divided up by the same ratio. When 2,000 people win 400,000€ in the same day, it makes for an exciting event!
What are the other prizes?
El Gordo lottery prize is the biggest in the Spanish lottery, but definitely not the only prize in this extremely famous national lottery.
* Second Prize: one winning number prized at 1,250,000 Euros per billete (entire ticket).
* Third Prize: one winning number prized at 500,000 Euros per billete (entire ticket).
* Fourth Prize: two winning numbers prized at 200,000 Euros per billete (entire ticket).
* Fifth Prize: eight winning numbers prized at 60,000 Euros per billete (entire ticket).
* La Pedrea (the stoning) prize: 1,794 numbers prized at 1,000 Euros per billete (entire ticket).
Approximation Prizes:
* 2 winning numbers (# above and # below the 1st prize): 20,000 Euros per billete (entire ticket)
* 2 winning numbers (# above and # below the 2nd prize): 12,500 Euros per billete (entire ticket)
* 2 winning numbers (# above and # below the 3rd prize): 9,600 Euros per billete (entire ticket)
* 99 winning numbers (same first 3 #’s as 1st Prize): 1,000 Euros per billete (entire ticket)
* 99 winning numbers (same first 3 #’s as 2nd Prize): 1,000 Euros per billete (entire ticket)
* 99 winning numbers (same first 3 #’s as 3rd Prize): 1,000 Euros per billete (entire ticket)
* 198 winning numbers (same first 3 #’s as 4th Prize): 1,000 Euros per billete (entire ticket)
* 849 winning numbers (same last 2 #’s as 1st Prize): 1,000 Euros per billete (entire ticket)
* 849 winning numbers (same last 2 #’s as 2nd Prize): 1,000 Euros per billete (entire ticket)
* 849 winning numbers (same last 2 #’s as 3rd Prize): 1,000 Euros per billete (entire ticket)
* 8,499 winning numbers (same last # as 1st Prize): 200 Euros per billete (entire ticket)
How much total prize money is awarded in this Spanish Lottery?
There are 15,304 winning numbers in this Spanish Lottery. If all of the 180 series of each winning number were sold, the total prize amount given out during the Spanish Christmas Lottery would be 2,520,000,000 Euros!
If all the tickets are sold, this prize amount makes up 70% of the sales. The other 30% goes to the Lottery Administration shops (5%) and Spanish National Treasury (25% aprox).
Popularity of the Spanish Lottery
Due to the large amount of winners and amount of money awarded in the Spanish El Gordo Lottery, it is no surprise that 98% of all Spaniards purchase at least a décimo (10th of a ticket) during the holiday Spanish lottery season. Tickets are purchased as gifts or from popular lottery administration offices around Spain. Some offices, such a one in Sort, Catalonia or downtown Madrid, are extremely famous for selling the El Gordo lottery winning numbers in previous years. During the holidays, people wait in lines for hours to buy their tickets from these “lucky” lottery offices.
El Gordo Spanish Lottery Drawing
The Christmas Lottery in Spain is drawn according to a strict procedure on the 22nd of December of every year.
Each of the 100,000 numbers are printed on balls and placed into one large drum. In the second smaller drum the 1,807 prize balls are placed: 1,794 balls worth 1,000 Euros (La Pedrea) and 13 other balls representing the 1st through 5th prize winners.
In a live 3 hour long nationally televised event, students from San IIdefonso School assist in the Spanish lottery drawing. One ball is taken from the large drum and a child sings the number. Next, a prize ball is removed from the smaller drum to which another child sings the corresponding prize. The process is repeated until all of the prize balls have been assigned a number.
When a big prize is drawn, the child repeats the song several times and clearly shows the winning balls to the committee and the cameras. When the El Gordo winning number is called it undoubtedly represents the climax of the event. After hours of the “one thousand Euros” chant on the television, the “3 million Euros” song gains everyone’s attention.
Since most lottery offices in Spain only sell one or two numbers, the El Gordo Lottery winners are usually all from the same town, company, or area. In 2005, the El Gordo Spanish lottery number had been sold in the small town of Vic, Catalonia. The inhabitants of this small community together won approximately 500 million Euros!
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At this webpage you will be able to know about History and Figures of the Spanish Christmas Lottery, Curiosities regarding lucky numbers and endings and 
