What a Lotto Dosh

	Tickets from the very first official draw in 1892 have been known to pass hands for up to ,000

The joke is that the Spanish don’t like to work. And too much Rioja and siesta means that the joke sometimes has some truth to it. No wonder every Spaniard wants to get lucky at Christmas time – but the only present they’re looking for is to win El Gordo (‘The Fat One’), Spain’s worldfamous festive lottery.

In the months leading up to 22 December, it’s estimated that 30 million Spaniards go lottery crazy, snapping up thousands of tickets in the hope that they can claim a piece of the gargantuan US$2.5 billion prize pool. But it’s not just this enormous sum of money for which El Gordo is so famous; apparently the chances of walking away with some sort of cash prize are about one in six!

For love nor money

A downside of the popularity of The Fat One is that tickets are very limited, as our man recently found out when he attempted to get his hands on one while on a jaunt to Spain. Luckily, you can buy tickets on the website at www.elgordo.com.

Compared to the Spanish pageantry, our own National Lottery comes across as just a cheap, tacky way of filling Saturday night telly. Over 70% of El Gordo’s ticket sales are put into the prize funds and the numbers and winners are announced live on TV by children from a school called San Idelfonso. No Anthea Turner and, thank Guinevere, no Eammon Holmes either.

What’s more, so infused is El Gordo into Spanish popular culture that tickets from the very first official draw in 1892 have been known to pass hands for up to $10,000. So screwing up your ticket is a definite no-no, whether it’s a winner or not. Instead, frame it and stick it on the wall, secure in the knowledge that it will look fantastic and could make you rich in 50 years’ time.