Spain’s ‘El Gordo’ lottery begins $2.8 billion draw

Organizers of Spain’s world-famous “El Gordo” Christmas lottery began broadcasting the draw from the Teatro Real opera house in Madrid on Sunday morning, with winnings totaling more than 2.7 billion euros ($2.8 billion).

In keeping with tradition, students at Madrid’s San Ildefonso boarding school began chanting the first winning numbers.

It was stated that Spanish broadcaster RTVE showed the event, which usually lasts for hours, live with the participation of approximately 400 spectators. Millions of people are expected to follow the event on television.

Most lottery tickets are sold in Spain, but a growing number of foreigners are entering online.

Founded more than 200 years ago, it is considered the oldest lottery in the world. It is referred to as the biggest draw on the planet due to the total prize money increasing every year.

The grand prize, called “El Gordo” (The Fat One), costs €4 million per full ticket. This year, 193 times more will be paid; eight times more than last year and a multiple of each of the 100,000 tickets sold.

Total prize money represents 70% of this year’s sales revenue of €3.86 billion.

Two lottery drums are used in the draw. The first larger drum contains 100,000 wooden balls with ticket numbers, and the second contains approximately 1,800 wooden balls with prize amounts.

During the draw, two balls always fall from two drums into a glass bowl at the same time. The ceremony lasts at least three hours and many smaller prizes are also given.