El Gordo, Spain’s beloved Christmas lottery, spread 2.3 billion euros ($3 billion) across the country on Wednesday, Dec. 22, bringing cheer to winners in a nation facing 20 percent unemployment.
The government-run lottery El Gordo—which means The Fat One in English—has no single jackpot, but rather runs on a complex share-the-wealth system, where thousands of five-digit numbers from 00000 to 84999 win at least something, according to The Huffington Post.
The winnings range from the ticket value of 20 euros to the top prize of three million euros.
El Gordo, which goes on for three hours, is designed to allow many people to win and to bring holiday spirit to the Spaniards.
The players spent 70 euros on average with 195 people matching the numbers and a further 26,000 getting smaller prizes. During the draw, school children sang out on TV the year’s winning number, 79250, according to the Daily Mail.
The government-run lottery El Gordo—which means The Fat One in English—has no single jackpot, but rather runs on a complex share-the-wealth system, where thousands of five-digit numbers from 00000 to 84999 win at least something, according to The Huffington Post.
The winnings range from the ticket value of 20 euros to the top prize of three million euros.
El Gordo, which goes on for three hours, is designed to allow many people to win and to bring holiday spirit to the Spaniards.
The players spent 70 euros on average with 195 people matching the numbers and a further 26,000 getting smaller prizes. During the draw, school children sang out on TV the year’s winning number, 79250, according to the Daily Mail.
