Spain’s Christmas lottery spreads money and seasonal pleasure to winners
MADRID -Gamers with profitable tickets in Spain’s big Christmas lottery draw on Sunday celebrated with glowing wine, cheers and hugs in a 200-year-old custom that marks the start of the Christmas season.
The whole prize pot within the state-run Nationwide Lottery occasion reached 2.71 billion euros this yr, barely greater than final yr’s 2.59 billion euros.
The highest prize, often called “El Gordo” , was received by ticket consumers within the northern metropolis of Logrono, capital of La Rioja area that’s famed for its wines.
Within the nationally televised draw at Madrid’s Teatro Actual, younger pupils from San Ildefonso faculty picked the profitable numbers from two revolving globes and sang them out.
The viewers, who had queued for hours to enter, wore Santa hats, regional costumes and their private fortunate charms.
“I would just like the lottery to go to Valencia. Actually, I believe it ought to go to the affected areas. We might like that very a lot,” stated 25-year-old Vicent Jacinto, wearing a conventional Valencian fallas swimsuit and referring to lethal floods that struck the area in October.
Lottery mania hits Spain within the weeks main as much as the Christmas lottery. Relations, co-workers, teams of associates and membership members incessantly purchase tickets or fractions of them collectively, typically favouring explicit “fortunate” distributors or numbers.
The commonest ticket prices 20 euros, providing as much as 400,000 euros in prize cash, earlier than taxes.
Greater than half of Sunday’s prime prize, even when purchased in Logrono, travelled again to the capital as many profitable tickets had been held by a basketball membership within the working class Madrid space of San Blas-Canillejas. Younger membership members and their households gathered to chant and dance to drums as they do on court docket.
“I awakened late as we speak and my mom entered my room with the tickets in her arms screaming like loopy,” Diego Gala, 28, bodily coach of the membership, informed Reuters.
The lottery custom dates again to 1812, when Spain was underneath French occupation through the Napoleonic Wars and the draw aimed to lift funds to struggle for independence.
As of late, proceeds after working prices and payouts are given to social causes.
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