Watch live: Spain’s massive Christmas lottery draw gets under way with famous El Gordo jackpot prize | Sur in English

Spain’s highly-anticipated state Christmas lottery with the famous El Gordo jackpot prize will be drawn today (Sunday 22 December). The whole of the country will come to a stop to watch schoolchildren sing the winning numbers at the Madrid theatre where the spectacle is staged.

The draw itself goes on for around four hours and is broadcast live on TV with on-going coverage on radio and online.

The undoubted stars of the ceremony are the children from the San Ildefonso school in Madrid, who sing the winning numbers and their corresponding prizes. The youngsters carefully catch the balls that are released from the two large drums and call out the numbers on them to the familiar tune that has been the soundtrack for the 22 December lottery for more than 300 years.

Lottery sales in Malaga

Lottery sales for the special Christmas draw in Malaga have increased by 61.3%, according to figures for the past decade. Sales have gone from 61.52 million euros in the province in 2014 to 99.25 million euros last year, which is 37.73 million more. In these ten years, growth was continuous until it slowed down in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, when sales fell by 70.9 million euros.

On the causes of this increase, sources pointed out factors such as the increase in population and purchasing power, as well as the rise in the arrival of tourists who can buy their tickets when they come on holiday as they are available for purchase from July onwards.

One of the novelties this year is that the number of series per number has increased from 185 to 193 in order to meet the demand, which has been increasing in recent years.

Spain’s state lottery organisation (Loterías y Apuestas del Estado) pointed out that there has been a rise in sales and it is probable a new record will be set in Malaga for the fourth consecutive year. “It is very likely that sales will exceed 100 million euros,” sources from the organisation said.

Last year sales in Malaga province reached 99,255,040 euros (4.37% more than in 2022) and 496,275.20 tickets were sold. For 2024 in Malaga, 518,852 tickets have been allocated in the authorised sale points for an amount of 103.77 million euros.

Of the numbers that these lottery offices put on sale, the endings that sold out first were the traditional 13, 15 and 69, according to sources, who added that the odd numbers are usually the most sought after. Although five is the number on which El Gordo jackpot has fallen most often (32 times), the next most popular numbers are even numbers: four and six (27 times each), eight (25) and zero (23), while one is the number on which the first prize has ended the least (only eight times).

This year the numbers ending in 24 have also been in great demand, as well as the numbers that included the dates of the fire in Valencia (22224) and of the ‘Dana’ storm that also affected Valencia (29104).

Last year, Malaga sale points distributed a total of 5.73 million euros in prizes thanks to the five tenths of the El Gordo jackpot prize that were sold in the province; one tenth of the second prize and five fifth prizes.

Winning tickets

The location where the big winning tickets were sold are revealed almost as soon as the top prize numbers come out of the revolving drums. This information has always played an important role in this lottery, with people traditionally buying their tickets when visiting places that have a record of selling high-value winning tickets.

One thing that has not changed this year is the value of the prizes to be distributed. The lucky people who own a tenth of the El Gordo number will get 400,000 euros; if it is the second prize, 125,000 euros; the third, 50,000 euros; fourth, 20,000 euros and fifth, 6,000 euros. These last two prizes are exempt from tax to the Treasury as they are less than 40,000 euros. For the rest of the prizes you must pay 20 per cent of the winning amount minus that amount in tax. For example, from the first prize, the tax authorities keep 72,000 euros (20% of 360,000), while the lucky person takes 328,000 euros. If it is the second prize, the winner takes 108,000 euros and the Treasury, 17,000 euros.

El Niño offers another chance

But don’t worry if you don’t win the El Gordo this Christmas, there’s always the El Niño, the similar, but less well known, lottery draw that could bring you some extra cash in the new year on 6 January.