They are excited to get fat this Christmas.
Spain on Friday announced the lucky numbers in its annual festive lottery draw known as “The Fat One” — with many people sharing more than $2.8 billion in holiday cheer.
The lucky number — 88008 — was sung by children from the San Ildefonso school in Madrid and broadcast on television, radio and the internet Friday morning in a draw that traditionally marks the start of the festive season.
Officials said that several people in several regions picked the winning numbers, with each winning $440,000.
That’s just a fraction of the roughly $2.8 billion prize pool in “El Gordo,” or “The Fat One,” a tradition that dates back to 1812.
The draw is held every year on December 22, and usually sparks nationwide celebrations as winners open sparkling wine and invite their friends to join them in song and dance along the way.
Buying and sharing tickets — known as “décimos,” or tithes — before Christmas is a tradition among Spanish families, friends, colleagues, and even in bars and social clubs.
A lottery worker sets the lottery drum spinning before the start of the traditional Spanish Christmas Lottery draw. REUTERS People in costumes wait before the start of the El Gordo draw. Reuters
In the weeks leading up to the results, long lines form outside lottery offices as people jostle for a chance to win big.
Offices that sell winning tickets in the past usually have very long lines.
On the big day, the children from San Ildefonso appear in a broadcast from the Teatro Real Madrid opera house, where they sing their winning numbers and prizes in a certain rhythm known throughout the country.
While other lotteries have larger individual prizes, Spain’s Christmas lottery is considered the richest in the world in terms of the amount of prize money involved, according to NPR.
It has been very popular since the Spanish economic crisis 11 years ago. Instead of splurging on big-ticket items like sports cars or mansions, many winners use the cash just to support their families.
The Christmas lottery is a major national event in Spain. REUTERS The number is read every year on Dec. 22. AP
José Manuel Penella, from Sodeto, won more than $400,000 in the 2012 draw – and used the funds to expand his family business and help his son buy a house nearby, he told Euronews.
“When you win the lottery everyone thinks you’re going to the Caribbean, but that’s not the case here, everyone is obsessed with their profession and being able to work. There is no luxury, but the quality of life has improved,” he explained.
The tradition of the lottery began in 1812, when Spain was under French occupation during the Napoleonic Wars and the lottery was designed to raise funds for the fight.
With Postal wire
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
