- Title: Lottery fever hits Spain as the El Gordo Christmas lottery draw begins
- Date: 22nd December 2016
- Summary: MADRID, SPAIN (DECEMBER 22, 2016) (REUTERS) **** WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY **** === NIGHT SHOTS === EXTERIOR ROYAL THEATER PEOPLE IN QUEUE WAVING, ONE SHOWING LOTTERY TICKETS WOMAN DANCING ON STREET WEARING A SANTA HAT AND DAWNING A SHEET WOMAN WEARING AN ELF HAT AND TINSEL JUMPING UP AND DOWN AND LAUGHING AND WAVING MAN DRESSED AS A KNIGHT AND A WOMAN HOLDING A
- Embargoed: 6th January 2017 10:26
- Keywords: Christmas lottery Spain El Gordo
- Location: MADRID, SPAIN
- City: MADRID, SPAIN
- Country: Spain
- Topics: Living/Lifestyle,Society/Social Issues
- Reuters ID: LVA0015DYQVK7
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Millions of Spaniards on Thursday (December 22) eagerly listened to the children of the San Ildefonso school chanting the winning lottery numbers for the annual Christmas lottery as they hoped to be the winners of the top prize known as 'El Gordo,' The Fat One.
Every year millions of Spaniards club together with friends, family or co-workers to each buy fractions of the same ticket known as "decimos" (tenths) in the over 200-year-old lottery which, on winning numbers, pays out up to 400,000 euros for every 20 euros wagered.
The "El Gordo" jackpot this year will dish out a total of 660 million euros to the holders of the winning "decimos" with each ticket in the series allocated a 400,000 euro prize.
Spain's 2016 Christmas lottery will distribute 2.31 billion euros in prizes, 70 million euros more than in 2015, marking two consecutive years of increased sales which some say may be an indicator that Spain's economy is slowly recovering and people's purchasing power is on the rise.
The Christmas lottery is held every year on December 22 and thousands of people stay glued to TV screens for hours watching the San Ildefonso schoolchildren pluck lottery balls from a rotating drum, singing out the resulting numbers in a chant that fills offices and homes.
Others attend the live lottery draw dressed in festive and eccentric costumes queuing overnight to get a good seat.
"As you can see I am dressed as the Pope. Let's see if this year this costume works to bless this number which is for a charity association Limon de Novales. Maybe if we bless the rotating drum, we will get this number and we can help people a bit," said 46 year-old Jose Manuel Ruiz who was wearing a Pope costume.
The probability of winning "El Gordo" is 1 in a 100,000, but despite the odds, a study by the Carlos III University in Madrid revealed that over 73% of Spaniards between the ages of 18 and 75 played the lottery in 2015, Spain's El Pais newspaper reported. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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