The Great Spanish Lottery

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Many years ago visiting some friends in Spain around the week before Christmas I was mesmerized by the activity surrounding a local ticket outlet just off the main square of the town in which I was staying. Asking around to try and find out what the hustle and bustle was all about it was finally explained. The commotion, excitement and sheer expectation focused on the great Spanish lottery affectionately known as El Gordo.

El Gordo or the Fat one is synonymous with Spain’s biggest and most prestigious lottery. Arguably the greatest lottery in the world and certainly very few games enjoy the massive payouts which have captured the world’s attention over the years.

Effectively, there are two main tickets on sale with derivatives of each type. Probably the one game which is most famous is the Sorteo de Navidad which is drawn just a few days before Christmas, normally on the 22nd December. This has been given the nickname el Gordo and identifies itself as the biggest and the best.

The second main lottery is El Gordo de la primitiva and is drawn each Sunday with thousands of cash prizes. As you can imagine Spain loves its lotteries and tickets can be sought from over 12,000 locations across mainland Spain including the Balearic Islands.

These official lotteries are run by the main government body Loterias y Apuestas Del Estado and have very strict gaming practice rules and regulations to adhere to.

Historically, entire villages have won some of the biggest prizes. One very popular venue is the small town of Sort (meaning luck).This town has a tradition of lucky winners and it has become a very popular venue to purchase tickets.

The main annual draw can take up to 3 hours as children in pairs from the famous San IIdefonso school in Madrid take in turn to sing out the winning numbers and of course the amount of prize money.

Winning selections are drawn from huge golden drums before a live audience in the Grand Salon of the Spanish National Lottery in Madrid. Children chant loudly “Gordo! Gordo!” as they wait impatiently for the huge prizes which can be in total over a staggering 2 billion Euros. The whole event is steeped in drama and pageantry as the evening unfolds. After all, the whole event has been around for over two centuries.

Just imagine winning such a wonderful lottery, sharing your gains among family and friends. It is traditional for whole tickets to be bought by a group, often an entire village with each person holding a segment of that lot. I believe the whole concept underlines the e-lottery syndicate approach which interestingly enough is becoming ever more present on the internet through specialist online facilities.

Cultural and social aspects of the Spanish make up become so apparent as the days leading up to the draw arrive. As an Italian I can relate very closely to the imagery , passion and of course sheer optimism held by the people of Spain. In the Plazas of the main towns up and down the country people gather almost in a huddle to express their dreams. Sharing their tapas and vino and tuning in to one of the great lottery spectacles in Europe if not the world. Only lately the Euro Millions lottery has made some very small in roads in to the big prize mentality but has a long way to go before it becomes as prestigious as El Gordo.

Above all, the whole event taking place just before Christmas I believe adds to the magic and beautifully blends in with all the festivities at that time of year. I often wonder if it would have the same effect if drawn in the middle of July, I doubt it. El Gordo is certainly the Fat One in many senses and directions.