Catalonia picks crumbs in Spanish Christmas lotto

Catalonia was rather unlucky in the traditional Spanish Christmas lotto this year, like in 2017.

Almost 25 million euro were won in the top five prizes in the Catalan territory, but it was not even the 10% of what citizens have spent buying tickets, 363 million euros.

Yet Catalans picked some 'crumbs' from most of the big prizes, including the top one, el 'Gordo' (in Spanish) or la 'Grossa' (in Catalan).

Some 35 tickets of the top number, 03347, were sold in several Catalan towns including Barcelona and Sabadell, which means 14 million euros.

The second top number, 21015, also made some Catalans happy on Saturday, especially in Castellbisbal and Cubelles, where a dance club had bought some tickets in Almansa (Valencia), making its members (or at least the ones who bought lotto tickets through the club) wealthier.

Overall the second lotto prize left 4.3 million euros in the country, while the third one, 04211, provided 1.8 million to some lucky ones in Gavà and Barcelona. The fifth prizes also left some five million euros in the country.

Catalans spent 363 million euros in the Spanish christmas lotto, 0.18% less than last year. The downwards trend continues from last year, when sales fell by more than 7%. It is the only territory in Spain (apart from Melilla) where citizens spent less money on this lotto than in 2017.

Catalan New Year's eve lotto

One of the reasons might be the emergence of a Catalan lotto for New Year's eve, barely ten days after the Spanish one. 

It was created in 2014 by Catalonia’s pro-independence government with the aim of using part of the funds to pay for social programs.

According to Catalan Lotteries, ‘La Grossa’ players have 25% more chances to win a prize than those who play ‘El Gordo’.

However, as the tension over Catalonia’s push for independence has risen in recent years, settling on one of the two lotteries may no longer be a politically neutral decision.