The Spanish Christmas Lottery

The Spanish Christmas Lottery is based on tickets (billetes) which have 5-digit numbers, just like the regular drawing of the Spanish national lottery. Due to the enormous popularity of the game, each ticket is printed multiple times, in several so-called series. A unique 5-digit number is printed on each ticket and on the subsequent series of that ticket. For example, the ticket with the number 00001 is printed multiple times under different series numbers. Each ticket costs €200. Because this may be too expensive, the tickets are usually sold as tenths (called décimos). The price of a décimo is €20 and the payout is 10% of the published prize.

Since December 18, 1812, the Christmas Lottery drawings are held according to exactly the same procedure each year. In the past it took place in the Lotería Nacional hall ofMadrid, while in 2010 and 2011 it was celebrated in the Palacio Municipal de Congresos de Madrid, and in 2012 in Teatro Real in Madrid. Pupils of the San Ildefonso school(formerly reserved for orphans of public servants) draw the numbers and corresponding prizes, singing the results aloud in front of the public. Until 1984 only boys from San Ildefonso participated in the drawing; that year Mónica Rodríguez became the first girl to sing the results, including a fourth prize of 25 million Spanish pesetas.^[3] It is a custom that the winners donate some of the money to the San Ildefonso school. The public attending the event may be dressed in lottery-related extravagant clothing and hats.^[4] The state-run Televisión Española and Radio Nacional de España, and other media outlets, broadcast the entire draw, which currently takes place on December 22 each year.

Non-winners will make the commonplace comment that "it's health that really matters". Those who just get their money back will often re-invest the prize in a ticket for Sorteo de El Niño, the second most important draw, held before the feast of Epiphany of Jesus on January 6.