Spain's Christmas lottery to start at 9 am on Sunday with coveted 'El Gordo' in play

Spain's Christmas lottery will begin on Sunday at 9 am, with the coveted 'El Gordo' in play.

The biggest prize in the raffle is 'The Fat One' in English. Each €20 ticket wins € 400,000.

To illustrate, people line up for hours at places believed to bring good luck, travel to other cities to buy tickets, and perform all sorts of quirky rituals in the hopes of winning.

The event takes place every December 22, with millions buying tickets beforehand.

But how does Spain's Christmas lottery work? It is one of the world's largest raffles, with a total prize pool of €2.7 billion and over 70% of Spaniards participating.

It is also the second longest-running lottery in the world. Since its inception in 1812, it has continued uninterrupted, even surviving the Spanish Civil War and the Covid-19 pandemic. 

There are only 100,000 ticket numbers, ranging from 00000 to 99999, and each number is printed on 1,930 décimos.

A décimo, which means "a tenth of a ticket," is the most common ticket people buy, costing €20.

The total prize pool is €2.7 billion, divided into thousands of prizes. The top prize, the coveted El Gordo, awards €400,000 per décimo.

Beyond El Gordo, there are other prizes: 

• The second prize awards €125,000 per décimo.

• The third prize awards €50,000 per décimo.

• The fourth prize awards €20,000 per décimo but is given to two numbers.

• The fifth prize awards €6,000 per décimo and is given to eight numbers.

In addition to these major prizes, there are smaller prizes like the pedreas, which award €100 to nearly 2,000 numbers.

The smallest prize is the reintegro, a cashback prize where you receive your €20 back if your ticket’s last digit matches the last digit of the winning number.

PODCAST: Beating the odds

Catalan News' podcast Filling the Sink explores the history of this festive prize draw and discovers how it is celebrated.

We visit some of Barcelona’s most iconic ticket outlets to meet lottery vendors and discuss the odds of winning ‘El Gordo’, as well as the controversy surrounding state taxation of winnings. We also chat with some of the players about their lucky numbers and how they hope to beat the odds this year.

Listen below to the Christmas lottery episode of Filling the Sink.