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Lotería de Navidad 2023

DancerDancer Community Champion Posts: 8,103 Legendary Poster
Every year in Spain, there is a Christmas Lottery which is the biggest lottery draw of the year in Spain. This was something that I first learned about at school in year 9. It first started in 1812 and has been the second longest continuously running lottery in the world.

Tickets are sold for €20 each. As all Lotería Nacional draws, the special Christmas draw is based on tickets which have five-digit numbers, from 00000 to 99999. Since this system only produces 100,000 unique ticket numbers, each ticket number is printed multiple times, in several so-called series. The series is also identified on each ticket by a series number. In this way, the lottery organizer is able to sell more than 100,000 tickets each year, numbered from "Series 001 Ticket 00000" through "Series xxx Ticket 99999", where xxx is the total number of series printed in a given year.

The drawing traditionally takes place on 22 December. In the past, the drawings took place in the Lotería Nacional hall in Madrid, in 2010 and 2011 it was held at the Palacio Municipal de Congresos de Madrid, and since 2012 in Teatro Real in Madrid. Pupils of the San Ildefonso school (formerly reserved for orphans of public servants) draw the numbers and corresponding prizes, delivering the results in song to the public. Until 1984, only boys from San Ildefonso participated in the drawing; that year Mónica Rodríguez became the first girl to sing the results, including the fourth prize of 25 million Spanish pesetas. It is a custom that the winners donate some of the money to the San Ildefonso school. The public attending the event may be dressed in lottery-related extravagant clothing and hats. The state-run Televisión Española and Radio Nacional de España, and other media outlets, broadcast the entire draw, it is also livestreamed.

As the drawing goes on, a single ball is extracted from each of the revolving spheres at the same time. One child sings the winning number, the other child sings the corresponding prize. This is repeated until the smaller cage (the prize-balls) has been emptied. Due to the sheer number of prizes, this procedure takes many hours. The children work in about eight to nine shifts, equal to the number of frames of numbers to be drawn. The balls have holes on them so they can be placed onto long wires, which are stored in frames for later presentation. When a major prize is drawn, both children pause, sing the prize and ticket number multiple times and show the balls to a committee, and then to a fixed camera with two Phillips screwdriver heads mounted at the front, all before being inserted into a frame as the others. Although the drawing is by chance, the children who draw the higher prizes are applauded. Apart from the prizes drawn from the vessel, some prizes are calculated from the winning numbers. Once the grand prize (El Gordo) is declared, this number is instantly broadcast on television, online and on public screens.
Prizes:
€4,000,000 for El Gordo (First Prize)
€1,250,000 for Second Prize
€500,000 for Third Prize
€200,000 for Fourth Prize
€60,000 for Fifth Prize
€1,000 for La Pedrea (Consolation Prize)
€20,000 for the two numbers just one unit above and below the First Prize
€12,500 for the two numbers just one unit above and below the Second Prize
€9,600 for the two numbers just one unit above and below the Second Prize
€1,000 for the numbers with the same first three digits of the First Prize
€1,000 for the numbers with the same first three digits of the Second Prize
€1,000 for the numbers with the same first three digits of the Third Prize
€1,000 for the numbers with the same first three digits of each of the Fourth Prizes
€1,000 for the numbers with the same two last digits as the First Prize
€1,000 for the numbers with the same two last digits as the Second Prize
€1,000 for the numbers with the same two last digits as the Third Prize
€200 for the numbers with the same last digit as the First Prize (refund)
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"There's a part of me I can't get back. A little girl grew up too fast. All it took was once. I'll never be the same." ~ Demi Lovato
"The way that I have found the light in my life is through the expressive arts because I know that I will be accepted for the way I am." ~ Me
"I'm going to get strong again and see you soon. " ~ Anonymous 
Post edited by JustV on

Comments

  • Amy22Amy22 Posts: 4,804 The Mix Elder
    I think I have heard about the Spanish lottery before and I think it is super cool. I never knew that they could make a donation as well to the school too. I think it's a great idea!. Im tempted to watch some Spanish lottery now :). Thanks for sharing this @Dancer
    Just a person who likes pop culture and films
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