Madrid.The State Betting department confirmed yesterday that the total prize money for the so-called Gordo (fat one) Christmas Lottery will this year be 4 million euros per ticket series, meaning that the holder of a lucky ticket (known as a décimo)could win 400'000 euros (100'000 more than last year).
The top prizes and new features of the Christmas lottery were presented yesterday by the department. El Gordo remains the most popular of many of the traditional lotteries which are held in Spain.
The State Betting department said that ticket sales for the Christmas lottery this year are expected to reach 3'600 million euros and that at a national level, spending is calculated at 71.28 euros per head. The second prize of the Christmas lottery will also be higher - total winnings allocation will be 1'250'000 euros (125'000 per décimo).
Third prize will remain at the same level as the year before - 500'000 euros (50'000 euros for each décimo.)
Big spenders
Those who will be spending most on the lottery this year, according to State Betting, will be residents in La Rioja with 106.3 euros per head along with Castilla y León (102). Those spending the least are the Spanish speaking cities of Ceuta and Melilla in North Africa (17.10 and 16.92 euros respectively) along with people in the Balearics.
The department said that Madrid and Catalonia is the region where most lottery tickets are sold even though the average spend per head is not the highest in the country (85.89 and 70.13 euros respectively.)
Next year, the Christmas lottery will be celebrating its two hundredth anniversary.