Two week countdown to El Gordo draw

 

With just 2 weeks to go until Spain´s famous ` El Gordo ´ lottery is drawn on 22nd December, Spaniards are still flocking to Bars and Loteria outlets to purchase their `Decimas´.

In November Loterias y Apuestas del Estado (the State Lottery Fund) announced that the jackpot fund for each`Decimo´will now be worth 400´000 Euros - 100´000 Euros more than Christmas 2010.

The second prize has also been increased from 1 million to 1,250,000 per series (125,000 euros per décimo), however the third prize remains unchanged at 500,000 euros for the series (50,000 euros per décimo).

Each decimo - or one tenth of a ticket - costs 20 Euros when purchased from an official outlet, but may costs a few Euros more if purchased from a Bar or other outlet.

Current data indicates that Spaniards have spent an average of 71 Euros per adult on the lottery draw so far, with those in La Rioja spending the most (106 Euros) and those in the Balearics spending the least (40 Euros) - which still works out at an average of two decimas per person.

Elsewhere, the National Court passed a ruling that a man who purchased a winning ticket from the 2006 El Gordo draw, should be paid a total of 300´000 euros.

The claimant purchased three decimas from the same series, but found that he had lost two of them. He reported the loss to the local Guardia and forwarded a stamped and notarised copy to the courts, which they ruled as proof of purchase of the tickets.

The missing decimas turned up once again in 2008, but the Lottery board refused to honour the payment.