NEWS
EVENTS
Christmas – A Time When All of Spain Goes Crazy for the Fat One
Monday 3rd November 2014 | Osh
As every December approaches, there’s a building level of excitement all over Spain – from the big cities like Madrid and Barcelona through to the tiniest of rural villages in the mountains or by the sea. It’s not that the Spanish are especially big on Christmas, though. As well as the celebration of Christmas, there’s something else to look forward to and that’s the Fat One – otherwise known as El Gordo.
El Gordo is the nickname for one of the world’s longest running lotteries – its official title is the Sorteo Extraordinario de Navidad or the Loteria de Navidad. And in fact, El Gordo, is the name for the jackpot of the draw, not the draw itself. Since 1812, this national lottery has gripped the whole of Spain and now other nationalities can join in too. If you want to take part in the Spanish Xmas lottery madness, you don’t have to be a Spanish resident or travel to Spain; you can simply buy a ticket or a share in a ticket online a site like Lottoland.
The Spanish Christmas lottery is so popular that it’s run in a different way to most lotteries. Each ticket or billete is printed many times over in different series. Each ticket has a unique 5 digit number that is printed on multiple series of the same ticket. So, for example, the number 00002 would be printed numerous times on different series numbers of tickets. As each ticket costs €200 many people will buy only a décimo (a tenth). And there’s the possibility of buying an even smaller percentage – through associations or organisations, so effectively you’re taking a share in a syndicate purchase of a ticket. Often, Spanish employers will buy a number of tickets and then divide them up as participation for their employees or customers.
So, if a Spaniard takes part in the Christmas lottery, there’s the possibility that not only they, but many people they know through work or their community could all win together. It’s not surprising that there is such excitement over the draw, which takes place just a day or two before Christmas, as more than 90% of the population will have purchased a ticket portion. People celebrate with El Gordo parties all over the country, and even if they don’t win, there’s always the fun of Christmas to compensate. As you can now join in online; why not? It could be you that’s taking a share of El Gordo this year.
