Spain bar clients' $54m lotto win
By CNN Madrid Bureau Chief Al Goodman
 |
One lottery winner celebrates in Valencia on Monday.
Story Tools
|
MADRID, Spain (CNN) -- The clients of a bar in Valencia, Spain's third largest city, could be $54 million richer for holding the winning numbers in the nation's lucrative annual Christmas lottery.
Overall the draw was due to pay about $2 billion to thousands of people across the country.
An estimated 75 percent of Spain's 40 million people play the annual lottery, and many were watching breathlessly as national TV broadcast the the winning combination on Monday.
The winning number, known as El Gordo (the Fat One) was 42.473. It was due to pay back 10,000 euros ($12,400) for every euro ($1.24) spent.
In theory, El Gordo alone this year could pay out $470 million in prize money if all of its tickets were actually sold, a calculation that will take some time for authorities to determine.
But the corks of Spanish bubbly were already popping at the Cervezeria Asturias bar in Valencia, Spanish news reports said, where the owner said his regular "hard-working" clients had purchased some of El Gordo's winning tickets.
The state lottery agency said tickets issued this year were worth $3.1 billion, and that 70 percent, or $2.2 billion, was destined for prize money. The remaining 30 percent was reserved for lottery administration, lottery sales points, and the public treasury, the state lottery announced.
It was not immediately clear how many tickets in each of the five top winning series had been sold, and who was lucky enough to be holding those coveted numbers.
Spaniards typically pay 20 euros ($24.80) for what amounts to just a tenth of a ticket.
A full ticket costs 200 euros ($248), and the other parts of it, sold also in tenths, are typically purchased by friends, co-workers or family members, so that if a given ticket wins, the riches are distributed among many people.
Spain's Christmas lottery started informally in 1812 and became institutionalized, with the title of "Christmas lottery," in 1892.
