Published 15:11 IST, December 23rd 2020
Christmas lottery: Spain’s ‘El Gordo’ winners announced by school kids, €400,000 doled out
World’s wealthiest lottery game held annually during Christmas has given away cash prizes worth €2.4 billion (£2.2 billion) which was announced by the kids.
- Entertainment News
- 2 min read
World’s richest Christmas 'El Gordo’ lottery winner was announced by the children from San Ildefonso school on December 22 in Spain. Adhering to the annual Christmas tradition, the kids announced the lucky number 72897, followed by the second prize associated with lottery 06095. An hour later, the third prize was rolled out to the number 52472. Manuel Rodríguez, a lottery seller in O Grove (Pontevedra) told El Pais that the cash prize was enormous especially during very challenging and testing times in midst of the coronavirus pandemic. Rodríguez added that he would treat himself with some centollos, a popular crab dish, to celebrate the big day.
World’s wealthiest lottery game held annually during Christmas has given away cash prizes worth €2.4 billion (£2.2 billion) in the year 2020. Kids from Madrid's San Ildefonso school had gathered to out the lucky numbers among the €20 ticket holders who have been entitled to €325,000 prize. The tickets dubbed as ‘decimos’ (tenths) are sold out around the time of Christmas. This year, due to the COVID-19 raging havoc across several countries, the event was held without spectators behind closed doors with online participation at Madrid’s Teatro Real opera house.
[Spain lottery El Gordo ticket. Credit: Twitter/@TheBigGayAl]
[Children drew the lucky lottery numbers. Credit: AP]
[El Gordo has a prize fund of more than 2 billion euros. Credit: AP]
11 percent slump in sale
El Gordo's organizers adhered to the social distancing norms and wore their masks as they announced the winners for the night. Every individual at the opera house was diagnosed for coronavirus negative test beforehand. However, children were briefly allowed to remove their masks as they announced lottery numbers. The event commenced at around 7.15 am. Additionally, after the winners of cash prizes were declared, the organizers informed that the prizes under €40,000 were exempt from taxes. Meanwhile, the president of the state gambling agency Seale, Jesús Huerta told El Pais that the lottery sales this year staggered due to the pandemic for the first time in nearly 6 years. There was a substantive 11 percent slump witnessed in 2020 compared to last year, he added.
Updated 15:09 IST, December 23rd 2020