Residents of a Spanish beach town were popping the cork on bottles of cava after many of its inhabitants struck it lucky in the world’s biggest lottery – which hands out more than€2bn (£1.47bn) in prize money each year.
By midday in the southern coastal town of Roquetas de Mar, the party – complete with guitars and hastily made celebratory T-shirts – was in full swing in front of the local lottery outlet after the winning number was sold in the El Gordo lottery, appearing on 1,600 tickets, with each holder of the lucky €20 tickets winning €400,000.
In total the town’s people will receive €640m from the enormous cash pot – making it the luckiest place in the country for this year’s draw.
“I went to change money at the bank and they told me that El Gordo was won here,” said the town’s lottery vendor José Martín. He quickly realised that his outlet might have been the one to sell this year’s biggest prize. “I told them, don’t tease me.”
The winning tickets were widely sold, he said, and didn’t just end up in the town of 91,000. “They were well spread out. Some went to tourists, and a few went to the Canary Islands.”
Those celebrating their win in front of Martín’s lottery outlet on Tuesday included a man from Senegal, who said he had arrived in Spain in 2007 on a small boat crammed with 75 people. “I want to give thanks to Spaniards and the Spanish government for rescuing me when I was in the sea,” said the man, holding back tears as he spoke to Spanish media. He didn’t give his name.
The 200-year-old lottery has taken on new significance as Spaniards struggle with the lingering effects of the economic crisis. This year was no exception, as much of the top prize money ended up in the southern province of Almería, where the unemployment rate stands at 31%, some 10 points above the Spanish average.
Gabriel Amat, the mayor of Roquetas de Mar, said Tuesday’s win was exactly what the town needed. “It’s very important for the town, especially given the difficult times we’ve been facing,” he told the Voz de Almería newspaper.
Almost half of the winning tickets were bought by a high school in the nearby village of Laujar de Andarax, sold off as a fundraiser for a school trip to Italy.
“Nearly everyone here has a ticket or a share in one,” the town’s mayor, Almudena Morales, told the news agency Europa Press. “People are going crazy, nobody can believe it. The money went to down to earth people who work hard and who really needed it.”
El Gordo, meaning “the fat one”, is one of Spain’s most popular Christmas customs, with millions across the country chipping in with friends and family to buy tickets. This year Spaniards spent nearly €2.6bn on El Gordo, up 4.5% from last year.
