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News, December 03El Gordo National Christmas Lottery spread wide22 December. This year's national Christmas lottery, known as EL GORDO, the largest National Lottery prize in Spain and one of the largest in the world was drawn this morning. All day, hundreds of people celebrated a winning share of one of the lucky tickets - of which there were thousands. 2,261 million Euros were taken, 1,755 million going out in prize money. After costs, the rest is a voluntary tax! The winning number 42.473 was just the biggest of many prizes at 2 million Euros, but that figure is a notional figure, since in actual fact the ticket is split into tenths and also is repeated a number of times, in Series, such that the real jackpot was perhaps twenty or more times the headline figure. Confused? So is the writer, despite having lived in Spain 25 years! Internet success This year is particularly noteworthy, since the winning number was sold (in part) through an internet outlet, La Bruixa d'Or (the golden witch) based in the Catalan town of Sort (meaning luck). This sleepy market town in the foothills of the Pyrenees seems to have found fortune in its name and although few of the locals were among the prize winners, the local lottery dealers made a big profit, some tickets even being sold as early as the summer holidays. While the Spanish evangelicals discourage participation in the lottery, this particular draw has become so much part of national culture that it is hard to avoid having at least a small participation in it. School kids sell tiny fractions along with a request for a contribution towards the end of year trip; charities do likewise for their causes; everyone wants to share in a prize, but all the more so if part of the outgoings are to a 'good cause'. Then it is, of course, completely up to the holder to collect from the charity or school (holder of the official ticket) if the number wins. |