What is El Gordo, what does it mean and how much can you win in Spain’s Christmas lottery?
The prize ticket numbers are sung out by school pupils from the city's Teatro Real opera house
SPAIN’S annual Christmas lottery draws in a shedload of punters, all in with a chance of picking up thousands of pounds in prize money.
But just why is El Gordo so popular, what does it mean and how does it work?
What is El Gordo?
Spain's massively popular Christmas lottery hands out 2.3 billion euros across the country.
The lottery’s top prize per winning ticket is 400,000 euros (£355,000).
Other lotteries have larger individual top prizes but El Gordo, which dates from 1812, is ranked as the world's richest for the total prize money on offer.
This year it dished out 25 million prizes.
Held every December 22, the lottery is ranked as the world's richest for the total prize money on offer.
Standard tickets cost 20 euros and people traditionally chip in and buy shares in several tickets with friends, family or workmates.
It is designed so as many people as possible snag a win or at least break even with cash prizes doled out across the country.
Local bars or associations often offer tickets to staff and customers.
What does El Gordo mean?
El Gordo means The Fat One simply because of the amount of money which is handed out in prizes.
How does El Gordo work?
El Gordo's complex rules allow for multiple purchases of the same lottery number.
To buy a whole ticket - and have a chance of winning - costs €200.
Most people go for a €20 décimo, or tenth of a ticket, reports.
It is said 70 per cent of the money people have spent on tickets will be distributed in prizes.
How much can you win?
This year’s Fat One draw will see £1,95 billion distributed around the country.
Spaniards spend an average of €55 (£47) on tickets each year, according to reports.
The lottery’s top prize per winning ticket is €400,000.
How is it drawn?
Queues form outside lottery booths weeks ahead of the draw and people tune in to find out if they are among the lucky ones.
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The prize ticket numbers are sung out by pupils of Madrid's San Ildefonso School in a nationally televised event from the city's Teatro Real opera house.
Spain established its national lottery as a charity in 1763, during the reign of King Carlos III.
Organisers said ticket sales totalled 2.6 billion euros this year, up 3.5 percent from last year.