Spanish El Gordo de Navidad is one of the largest and richest lotteries in the world

The lottery, officially known as Sorteo Extraordinario de Navidad or Loteria de Navidad, began in 1812 and has become an annual Spanish tradition. The Spanish Christmas lottery is the second longest continuously running lottery in the world.

This includes the years during the Spanish Civil War when the lottery draw was held in Valencia after the Republicans were forced to relocate their capital from Madrid. After the overthrow of the Republican government the lottery continued uninterrupted under the Franco regime.

Spanish El Gordo de Navidad is one of the largest and richest lotteries in the world

The draws, which are held in Madrid on 22nd December every year

The draw process involves one ball being selected from each machine simultaneously and continues until the prize bombo is empty. The process takes hours to complete and has become a significant cultural event in Spain's annual calendar.

To add to the atmosphere and excitement, children from the San Ildefonso School in Madrid select the balls and sing the results.

The draws, which are held in Madrid on 22nd December every year and considered a national event, differ from standard lotteries in two important aspects.

Unlike other lotteries, whose draws are generally brief and completed with relatively little fanfare, El Gordo de Navidad draws take hours to complete due to the sheer number of prizes and the format is closer to a raffle than a standard lottery.

Spanish El Gordo de Navidad is one of the largest and richest lotteries in the world

Bombos

The balls are drawn from two machines, called 'bombos', which each hold thousands of balls. One bombo contains balls inscribed with a pre-determined number combination, while the other bombo contains balls inscribed with a prize value.

Each pre-determined number is printed on numerous tickets so, when a prize is selected to correspond with the number drawn, the prize fund for that tier will be shared between all of the players whose ticket matches the number drawn.

When you have a moment, you can get familiar with the Superenalotto from Italy, that creates bigger jackpots than every other state lottery in Europe. The main reason for this is that there are three draws per week which creates lots of exciting rollovers.

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