A remote Spanish farming village today became several million dollars richer after each of its 25 inhabitants won a share of the top prize in the world's biggest lottery, El Gordo.

The church bells rang in Rebollo de Duero, in the central Spanish province of Soria, as the handful of farming families celebrated their good fortune.

Soria is one of western Europe's most sparsely inhabited regions, with many villages abandoned completely by their inhabitants over the past half century.

"I don't know what everybody is going to do with it," said Mayor José María García, who admitted to being several hundred thousand euros richer after the prize draw. "We'll try not to start arguing."

With the top prize shared among the thousands of people who buy shares in the winning number, the win was being celebrated in half a dozen places around the country.

It was the biggest payment ever by the Christmas lottery El Gordo, which has been going for almost two centuries. Today it gave out more than €2.1bn (US$2.76 billion) across Spain, divided into more than 2 million prizes.

Unlike other lotteries, El Gordo creates few millionaires, as most people rarely hold more than a €20 (US$26)share in the winning number. That number pays out 15,000 times the money paid for shares in it, meaning that most of those holding the winning number will have won €300,000 (US$394,000) for a €20 (US$26) share.

The €1,200 (US$1,576) share in the winning number that was bought by villagers and visitors to Rebollo de Duero will become €18 million (US$23.6 million) in prize money.

All the shares in a winning number are usually sold in one town, but this year's winning number had been sold in many other parts of Spain.