El Gordo de Navidad
El Gordo de Navidad has been running in Spain since 1812, becoming famous for offering a prize pot of over €2 billion - there is a €2.38 billion prize pool for the upcoming 2019 draw. Also known as the Spanish Christmas Lottery, it is held annually on the 22nd December. Large groups of family and friends often club together to buy tickets, known as decimos and billetes. Billetes are full tickets which can be bought for €200, with many players opting to buy a cheaper decimo for €20, a tenth of a full ticket, which means that they will receive a tenth of any prize that it might win.
The spectacular draw takes place at Madrid’s Teatro Real opera house, lasting for up to five hours with children from the local San Ildefonso School singing the numbers as they are drawn from two massive golden drums. Watching the draw on television is a sociable event in many towns and villages around the country, and people often come together to enjoy this special occasion which has become a highlight of the Spanish calendar.
Buying El Gordo de Navidad Tickets
El Gordo de Navidad works more like a raffle than a traditional lottery, in that when you buy a billete or a decimo, you are issued with a five-digit number which you have to match with one of the winning codes drawn. There are 170 series for the 2019 draw, so up to 170 tickets can bear the same number, with each receiving the entire amount advertised for the prize tier in which it wins. This means that although only one set of numbers wins the €4 million jackpot, there are actually 170 separate winners of €4 million prizes.
Decimos and billetes can be bought from authorised ticket retailers in Spain, and it’s also very easy nowadays to enter the El Gordo draw online from anywhere in the world.
El Gordo de Navidad Prizes
A full breakdown of prizes available for the 2019 El Gordo de Navidad draw is shown below.
| Prize Divisions | Total Prizes | Prize per Billete |
|---|---|---|
| El Gordo first prize | 1 | €4,000,000 |
| Second prize | 1 | €1,250,000 |
| Third prize | 1 | €500,000 |
| Fourth prize | 2 | €200,000 |
| Fifth prize | 8 | €60,000 |
| The number before and the number after El Gordo 1st prize | 2 | €20,000 |
| The number before and the number after 2nd prize | 2 | €12,500 |
| The number before and the number after 3rd prize | 2 | €9,600 |
| Same first three digits as El Gordo de Navidad 1st prize | 99 | €1,000 |
| Same first three digits as 2nd prize | 99 | €1,000 |
| Same first three digits as 3rd prize | 99 | €1,000 |
| Same first three digits as 4th prize | 198 | €1,000 |
| Same last two digits as El Gordo | 999 | €1,000 |
| Same last two digits as 2nd prize | 999 | €1,000 |
| Same last two digits as 3rd prize | 999 | €1,000 |
| Five correct numbers | 1,794 | €1,000 |
| Same last digit as El Gordo | 9,999 | €200 |
