Spain’s national Christmas lottery has massive prize pool this year; Know all details here

Spain's traditional Christmas lottery, captivated millions of Spaniards as children of San Ildefonso school chanted the winning numbers in the multi-billion euro draw.

The draw takes several hours because El Gordo – the largest and the first prize in the draw – is based on a unique system in which children sing out the numbers and prizes to 16th-century tunes.

The lottery dates back to 1812 million of participants. The prize pool this year reached EUR 2.52 billion.


Spain's national lottery explained that with one ticket costing EUR 20 on average Spaniards spend EUR 69 on the festive lottery.

According to the rules of the game the same number is allowed to be sold multiple times across different towns or cities. The amount of prizes ranges from as small as EUR 100 to the largest prize “EL Gordo” which is EUR 400,000 per ticket. Many Spaniards who come together to buy tickets or fractions of them often favor particular vendors or numbers. This Christmas lottery is one of Spain's most awaited days in the festive season's calendar.



The Christmas lottery often generates a larger social impact in Spain than in other countries due to its tradition and the number of people who buy tickets. Spaniards tend to pool resources with friends, family members and work colleagues who share a ticket. Unlike other lotteries where you pick numbers, El Gordo winners are selected from a machine that spits out paper balls containing the winning numbers. This year's lottery takes place amid an economic crisis in Spain, where one out of four workers is unemployed and the government has been forced to cut public spending to ease its deficit.

FAQs:

1. Who was the winning number of El Gordo in 2021?
   Winning number of El Gordo 2021 was 86,148, which was mostly sold in Madrid
2. Students of which school sing the winning numbers of Spain's biggest lottery El Gordo?
   Students of San Ildefonso School sing the winning numbers of Spain's biggest lottery El Gordo.