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The El Gordo Spanish Christmas Lottery takes place every December 22 and is by far the biggest and most popular draw of the year, raking in millions of euros on tickets each festive season.

 

By total prize giveaways, El Gordo is the biggest lottery draw worldwide and winners are selected according to a series of numbers ranging from 00000 to 99999. Each ticket is divided into ten sub-tickets, known as tenths in Spain, and can be bought for 20 euros; if it is part of the winning series, it entitles its owner to 10% of the overall prize.

 

The long-awaited 2021 draw has finally taken place, and the winner was series 86148, for which the majority of the tickets were sold in Madrid, particularly in the high-traffic Atocha AVE Station. However, given its location, it is believed that the winning tickets will have made their way all across Spain.

 

According to officials, this series is the highest number ever to have won the draw: each tenth comes with a prize of 400,000 euros, with the complete series being worth a staggering 4,000,000 euros.

 

In addition to the Madrid Atocha Station, where 129 series have been sold at the AVE terminal, tickets have also been distributed in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Santoña (Cantabria), Ayamonte (Huelva) and Calle Toledo of Madrid.

 

A handball club in Basauri (Bizaia) took the second prize, worth 177 million euros and representing series 72119, which will be divided between members of its team, families and fans.

 

“There are more than three hundred people [in the club], from five-year-olds to 40-year-olds, and it is distributed among all,” said an excited member.

 

The third prize of 500,000 euros (50,000 for each tenth), corresponding to number 19517, has been sold mainly in the Community of Valencia.

 

The Valencian Community has repeated its luck with the number 42833, one of the two fourth lottery prizes.

 

The Extraordinary Draw of the Christmas Lottery 2021 will distribute a total of 2,408 million euros in prize money, the same amount as last year.

 

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