Players with winning tickets in Spain will be drawing a huge Christmas lottery, celebrated with sparkling wine, applause and hugs on Sunday in a 200-year-old tradition that marks the start of the festive season.
The total prize pot for the national lottery event reached €2.71bn (£2.25bn) this year, slightly more than the previous year’s €2.59bn
The supreme prize, known as The man is fat or Fat, the ticket was won by the owners in the northern city of Logroño, the capital of the region of La Rioja.
In a nationally televised draw at the Royal Theater in Madrid, young students from the San Ildefonso school selected the winning numbers from two groups by rolling and singing.
Audience members who had been scheduled to enter for hours were dressed in Santa hats, regional costumes and personal good luck prayers.
“I would like the lottery to go to Valencia. Honestly, I think it should go to the affected areas,” said Vincent Jacinto, 25, who was dressed in traditional Valencian clothing and was referring to the deadly waves that hit the region in October. “We want as much as possible.”
Lottery mania hits Spain in the weeks leading up to Christmas. Relatives, co-workers, members of groups and clubs often buy tickets or fractions of them together, often favoring merchants or particular “lucky” numbers.
The most common ticket costs €20 and offers the opportunity to win up to €400,000 in prize money before tax.
More than half of Sunday’s total prize, also bought in Logroño, returned to Madrid because many of the winning tickets were held in the neighborhood of San Blas-Canillejas. Youth club members and their families sing and dance to the drums as they do in the hall.
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“I woke up late today and my mother came into my room with tickets in her hands like she was crying like crazy,” said Diego Gala, 28, a physical trainer at the club.
The lottery tradition goes back to 1812, when Spain was under French occupation during the Napoleonic Wars and a lottery was organized to raise money to fight for independence.
These days, after work expenses and disbursements go to social causes.