About Loteria de Navidad
The Spanish National Lottery hosts the annual Spanish Christmas El Gordo Lottery – Lotería de Navidad every year on 22 December, a super raffle that is supported by Spanish Government. In 2012, Loteria Nacional's flagship annual draw marked the 200th anniversary of the Spanish lotto tradition and was the first year that tickets went on sale at theLotter. The Christmas El Gordo is the year’s biggest lottery event and 70% of ticket sale revenues create an enormous prize fund! The prize pool for the 2023 Spanish Christmas raffle was €2.59 billion, just in time for the Christmas season and the new year!
Lotería de Navidad History
Spain’s long history of lotteries began in 1763 with the La Primitiva lottery which was created by royal initiative to raise funds for the Spanish treasury. The lottery was enjoyed for 100 years and later returned in more modern times in the summer of 1985.
The special Lotería de Navidad Christmas El Gordo raffle began in 1812 and since has been quite an event for spectators. As the five-digit raffle codes are drawn from a set of lottery drums, the results are sung by students of the San Ildefonso School in front of an audience which has made it a custom to arrive dressed in lottery-related clothing to the extravagant event.
Lotería de Navidad Rules
The Spanish Christmas El Gordo Lottery offers the largest prize fund in the world with last year’s total prize pool standing at €2.59 billion. The upcoming 22 December draw is expected to create more than 26 million winning shares!
For the 2023 raffle, 100,000 five-digit code tickets (billetes) were printed in 185 identical copies. The codes are numbered from 00000-99999. Each ticket for Lotería de Navidad is made up of 10 shares (décimos). Tickets can be sold in whole or divided into shares. Follow this formula to understand how 185 million shares are available for players world-wide to win part of the unparalleled prize pool.
100,000 tickets * 185 copies * 10 shares = 185 million Lotería de Navidad shares
At the time of the raffle draw, which lasts about three hours, two spherical drums are used to pull the winning raffle numbers. The larger drum contains tens of thousands of small wooden balls with the five-digit codes imprinted on them. The smaller drum contains 1,807 wooden balls, each representing variations of the available prizes on it. A single ball is selected from each drum simultaneously to match each prize with one of the 100,000 ticket numbers.
The results are sung aloud by children of San Ildefonso School who practice for the event for months leading up to the drawing. One child sings aloud the winning five-digit number while the other sings the prize. The wooden balls are constructed like beads so that they can be inserted onto framed wires for presentation as the results are called.
Since the 2010 Lotería de Navidad - El Gordo, the lottery has undergone prize modifications which have increased the available prizes. From the 2011 draw : the 1st prize, Gordo, increased from €3 million to €4 million; the 2nd prize, Segundo, increased from €1 million to €1.25 million; and the 5th prize, Quintos, increased from €500,000 to €600,000.
Winning the Lotería de Navidad
With winning odds beginning at 1:10, players have excellent odds of taking home a prize in the world’s biggest lottery! The Spanish Christmas Lottery - El Gordo jackpot of €4 million can easily be snatched up with incredible winning odds of 1:100,000. More than 26 million winning shares in all of the lottery’s prize divisions are expected!
According to the press, about 98% of the adult Spanish population participate in the Lotería de Navidad each year, even if they hold on to just one share of a lottery ticket. On average, players in Spain hold €73 worth of Spanish Christmas Lottery tickets and many receive Christmas raffle shares and tickets as gifts from family members and acquaintances.
Read more information about Spanish Christmas El Gordo Lottery.