The Spanish Yuletide Lottery will be distributing €2.41 billion in awards this year. The lottery is managed by the National Lottery and State Gambling Enterprise (SELAE) and the annual drawing will occur on December 22nd.
There are 172 million tickets available for purchase, including 172 sets, each with 100,000 ticket numbers. Each ticket is sold in tenths.
A tenth of a ticket costs €20, meaning that the total sales will reach €3.44 billion, of which 70% will be used to pay out prizes.
The top prize, known as “El Gordo,” is worth €400,000 per tenth of a ticket, the second prize is worth €125,000, and the third prize is worth €50,000 per tenth of a ticket.
For each winning combination, the award will be paid out to the holders of the corresponding ticket in the 172 sets. This means that the top prize “El Gordo” could pay out €688 million across all sets.
SELAE president Juan Huerta Almendro stated: “While this year’s Christmas will be different, there are some aspects and customs that remain unchanged. One of them is our Christmas Lottery. It is one of our most deeply ingrained traditions, which has accompanied us for over two centuries, generation after generation, and in these difficult times, it gives us much-needed hope.”
He highlighted that SELAE is a non-profit organization that gives back its earnings to Spanish society. “We are not unfamiliar with the environment we are in, as it affects our daily lives. Thus, we are very clear that we must restate the common values of Loterías with citizens. Therefore, this year’s campaign focuses on the positive aspects that must be learned from challenging times.”
The campaign will launch today and will be disseminated through the media in the coming weeks, with the tagline “Sharing as always, sharing more than ever.”
SELAE also declared that the lottery draw will be conducted under the most stringent health and safety protocols in its history, and will be held without the presence of the public, unlike previous years.
The operator stated that they have been collaborating with the Royal Theater of Madrid (where the draw is held) and the San Ildefonso School (where students participate in the draw every year) for months to develop a health and safety protocol to safeguard the participating children, lottery employees, and the media.
The measures agreed upon by the institution include the mandatory use of face coverings for all those present, with only the children who announce the winning numbers being permitted to remove their masks, and they will maintain a safe social distance of two meters during the announcement.
A barrier will also be installed to protect the lottery workers, and the platform that usually accommodates five members will be reduced to four to ensure social distancing.
The lottery will be conducted without any audience, with the number of media representatives permitted to participate reduced by half.
The figures released this month indicate that Spain’s overall gaming revenue (GGR) experienced a 50% decline year-over-year from January to October. Government-owned lottery operators SELAE and ONCE generated a mere €1.9 billion, representing a 58.6% decrease from the €4.59 billion recorded in 2019.
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