El Gordo jackpot brings lottery joy to thousands in Spain
Spaniards facing yet another year of economic misery found relief in the world's biggest lottery payout on Saturday, the traditional Christmas Gordo, or Fat One, which spread 2.52 billion (US$3.3 billion) in prize money around the country.
Champagne corks popped in towns, cities and villages across Spain as tens of thousands of winners took home enough money to keep their families going through the dark days of 2013 and beyond.
Yesterday we were both on the dole, but today we are winners, ...
Dec 24, 2012, 8:33 am - Lottery News forum
Entire town, except one guy, wins $950M lottery
Just a few weeks ago, the 70 households in the isolated farming village of Sodeto were struggling under the double whammy of Spain's economic downturn and the ravages of a severe drought.
Some were even thinking of passing up Spain's huge Christmas lottery, known as El Gordo the fat one which is something of a national obsession. But they bought tickets out of loyalty to the homemakers' association here, which makes a small percentage on the sales.
And then, their number came in.
All bu ...
Feb 2, 2012, 4:35 pm - Lottery News forum
Spanish Christmas lottery pays out billions
Days before Christmas, a tiny town of 2,000 in cash-strapped Spain found itself richer by 720 million (US$940 million) Thursday after scooping the top prize in the nation's famed Christmas lottery.
Billed as the world's richest, the lottery dishes out some 2.52 billion (US$3.29 billion) to winners across the nation.
The top prize dubbed El Gordo (The Fat One) was split among the holders of tickets bearing the number 58268. The number appeared on 1,800 tickets, giving winners 400,000 for th ...
Dec 23, 2011, 12:27 pm - Lottery News forum
World's biggest lottery draw sets new record
El Gordo prize pool reaches a new high, now worth 2.5 billion
By Todd Northrop
Any economic hardships that may exist in Spain are not dampening the desire to win big, as people line up outside Lottery outlets, particularly in the cities of Madrid and Barcelona, to purchase tickets for this year's El Gordo drawing.
As the drawing date of El Gordo (literally translated as The Fat One ) nears, lottery players are lining up for their chance to win a slice of an unbelievably huge pot of mone ...
Dec 14, 2011, 10:59 pm - Lottery News forum
Spain to privatize lottery
The Spanish government is close to selecting three advisers to help it sell shares in national lottery Sociedad Estatal de Loter as y Apuestas del Estado SA that could raise as much as $10.62 billion.
The choice of strategic, financial and legal advisers could be announced as soon as Tuesday, Aurelio Mart nez, chairman of Loter as y Apuestas del Estado, said in an interview. The mandates are considered prestigious for consulting firms, investment banks and law firms, even if the fees involved ...
May 24, 2011, 7:03 am - Lottery News forum
Spanish lottery player wins €123M Euro Millions jackpot
By Todd Northrop
One lucky lottery ticket sold in Spain won the entire 123 million (US$174 million) jackpot in the Friday Euro Millions drawing.
The mega jackpot became so large so fast because the 11 countries participating in Euro Millions boosted the grand prize to 100 million this week to promote the new Tuesday drawings. When no ticket matched all five numbers plus the two lucky stars Tuesday, the jackpot grew to 123 million Friday.
This huge jackpot has been really exciting for p ...
May 14, 2011, 7:53 am - Lottery News forum
Lottery winner flees Spain penniless as bank seizes villa and bar
When Lawrence Candlish won 5.5 million (US$8.8 million) playing the National Lottery in 1997 it promised to make his dreams come true, including buying himself the double hip replacement he needed.
The generous factory worker immediately shared his fortune with his many relatives, shelling out 370,000 (US$590,000) to buy seven houses in the same street in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear so that they could be close together.
Eventually he moved with his family to Benidorm on Spain's Costa Blanca t ...
Jan 24, 2011, 8:22 am - Lottery News forum
El Gordo lottery awards more than $3 billion
Spain's Christmas lottery showered hundreds of thousand of euros in prize money on the country's capital Tuesday.
The top prize of the lottery, ranked among the world's richest, went to holders of tickets bearing the number 78294. The number appears on 1,950 tickets, and each holder stood to win euro300,000 ($430,000).
Organizers said the tickets bearing that number were sold in a lottery office in the central Madrid area of Cuatro Caminos.
Two of the lucky ticket holders were immigrant ...
Dec 24, 2009, 2:51 pm - Lottery News forum
Spain's Christmas lottery is still "El Gordo"
In tough times, Spaniards trim trees, not their lottery ticket purchases
On the morning of Dec. 22, Spain will be glued to radios and TV sets. A monotonous chant of children's voices will float through the air of homes, cafeterias and offices for hours.
It is the lyrical event of the season, a kickoff to Christmas celebrations. Children dressed up in navy blue and gray uniforms sing, not Christmas carols, but the winning numbers and prizes for the Loteria de Navidad, Spain's state Christma ...
Dec 18, 2009, 8:11 am - Lottery News forum
€126M Euro Millions lottery ticket was purchased online
Euro Million's biggest lottery winner didn't know she had won 126 million (US$170 million) because she was in bed with flu.
The lucky but ill woman was the only jackpot winner of Friday's Euro Millions drawing.
She failed to realize her numbers had come up until she dragged herself to work on Monday to save herself from being fired in recession-hit Spain.
The unnamed 25-year-old, from Majorca, said, I still had flu on Monday but with the crisis we are going through, I decided I had to g ...
May 14, 2009, 7:20 am - Lottery News forum
