EL GORDO

Spanish Christmas Lottery (The Fat One)

El Gordo draw always takes place on 22 December and people all across Spain club together to buy a stake in this amazing draw.

El Gordo winning numbers for 2009 were 78294 and each ticket holder will win $430,000. Organizers said the winning tickets were sold in Madrid city center. Altogether the lottery prize money was 2.32 billion euro ($3.33 billion).

The lottery (Sorteo de Navidad or Lotería de Navidad) otherwise known as the 'Fat One' is a national lottery game which has been organized by the Spanish Goverment since 1812.

It is a Spanish tradition which everyone enjoys and the prize is so huge that everyone has a chance of becoming rich at Chrismas. Entire towns and villages have prospered from the Fat One.

For example, a few years ago the Catalan town of Vic (inland from Barcelona) were the winners and the town received €510m (£350m).

The Spanish Christmas Lottery is considered to be the biggest lottery in the world and is based on 5 winning numbers. A lottery ticket (billete) costs €200 so tickets are sold as tenths (décimos).

Nearly 100% of Spanish people have a portion of a lottery ticket and dream of becoming rich.

Fat One Procedure

Boys and girls from San Ildefonso school take a ball from the bowl of numbers and another draws the corresponding prizes. The children sing the results in front of a crowded hall and it's all broadcast live on TV.

As you can imagine everyone who isn't in the hall is glued to their TVs to see if they are going to be the lucky winners. The draw takes about three hours and the winners always give a donation to the San Ildefonso school.