WINNERS of the world’s biggest Christmas lottery will be forced to give up part of their jackpot prize because of a massive blunder.
Held every year in December, the El Gordo lottery is famous for giving out the most cash prizes per ticket purchased – with a total prize of £3billion up for grabs.
On Saturday, Spanish media reported that everyone holding a ticket with the winning number of the main prize will now receive almost their full winnings.
The news sparked jubilant celebrations in Villamanin, a town of fewer than 1,000 residents.
Winners in the small town had won over £30million in total winnings.
But on Monday, their celebrations turned to horror and anger – all because of a blunder caused by the local festival committee.
The committee had accidentally sold more shares in official lottery tickets than it had actually bought, which left it with unmet expectations of around £3.5million in winnings.
This meant that the lucky ticket holders risked receiving little or nothing from the shared payout.
A full Christmas lottery ticket costs £174, while a 10th of a ticket share costs £17.4.
These shares are typically sold for £4.5 to £9, with a portion of any winnings earmarked for the organisation.
But after widespread dismay, the committee reached a unique solution.
Organisers decided that they would forgo part of their own winnings, while individual ticket holders also accepted slightly reduced payouts.
The compromise was reached during a heated meeting lasting more than three hours on Friday evening, according to local news outlet El País.
As a result of the compromise, the winning residents would now receive a lower share from the payout.
Spain’s Christmas lottery delivered an unprecedented payout of €2.77 billio
A whopping £2.5billion was given out to lucky prize-winners in the Christmas draw.
El Gordo is Spain’s most popular gambling event, and queues to buy tickets the night before the draw are common.
It is said to be the largest in the world.
Hundreds of thousands of tickets are sold every year, and the event brings the whole country together in the run-up to Christmas.
It has been running since 1812, making it the second-longest-running lottery in the world.
Many Spaniards club together to buy tickets collectively, because the chances of winning a small prize are high.
Each ticket, called a décimo, entitles winners to a tenth of a set prize.
So if a lucky player holds one décimo with the number drawn for the top prize of €4 million, they will win a huge €400,000.
The top prize is called El Gordo, meaning “the fat one” in English.
But Brits could enter the lottery as well, whether they live in the UK or in sunny Spain.
Though ticket sales have closed for 2025, Brits who want to take part next year can bag tickets for El Gordo online.
This year, several winners of the top prize lived in Leon, an area which was ravaged by wildfires this August.
Lucky Laura told radio station SER: “After the terrible summer we’ve been through with the wildfires, which was horrible, I’m very emotional – it’s overwhelming, I can hardly believe it.”