Spaniards win big in 'El Gordo' lottery
Hundreds of people in the Spanish capital Madrid will undoubtedly be celebrating this Christmas after winning big bucks in El Gordo, the annual Christmas lottery with prizes totaling a bumper $2.4 billion.
Local school children sang the winning numbers for the world's richest sweepstake at the draw at the Teatro Real opera house in Madrid, in a televised broadcast watched by people around the country. The top prize per ticket in El Gordo, Spanish for "The Fat One," is about $418,000.
All the 1,650 tickets bearing the top prize number 66513 were sold in Madrid and each of those ticket holders will get $418,000, the Associated Press reported.
A standard ticket costs $21 and hopefuls often form syndicates with coworkers, family and friends to increase their chances of winning big.
Spain is obsessed with El Gordo, forming long lines for tickets. Villagers and other groups often buy the same number, casting their lot together. In 2011, residents of the little town of Sodeto all bought in on magical 58268 and walked away with winnings totaling more than $100 million.
Ticket sales for the lottery, which dates from 1812, totaled $2.7 billion this year, a 3.5% rise from the figure in 2015.
Contributing: John Bacon