It was reported in Spain a few days before that people were lining up for buying lotto tickets for El Gordo. It was told that people had to wait for several hours in queues which were spreading over 1.5 miles on the roads.
El Gordo is a famous lotto played in Spain once a year before Christmas. Millions of Euros every year had been handed over to lucky winners each year. This year too, the lotto decided to distribute prizes worth Euros 2.4 Billion.
The results were drawn yesterday and the mega prize winning number was came out to be 72897. As usual the lucky number was disclosed in a song which was sung by school children.
It was informed by Lotto’s official that the lucky number was sold at several retail shops located at different locations.
The lotto results were found quite emotional as one of the retailer named Manuel Rodrigues was seen in tears. He told that he had the privilege of selling large number of winning tickets but the joy he felt this year was different. He said that the pandemic had changed their lives entirely and that he had lost very dear friends. Happiness had been brought by lotto before Christmas throughout Spain and he is happy to see that, he stated.
The results were also announced for 2nd and 3rd prizes which came out to be 06095 and 52472 respectively.
It was also announced by the Spain’s National Lottery that this year the prizes under Euros 40,000 shall not be subjected to tax. Before this announcement, every prize money over and above Euros 20,000 was subjected to 20% withholding. The announcement also increased happiness amongst winners who would now be taking home every penny of the prize they had won.
The official of the lotto also informed that this year’s ticket sales were comparatively low from the past. He said that it was due to the ongoing pandemic which had hurt the lotto’s sale as well. Total sales of tickets recorded for this year were Euros 2.58 Billion, which was 11% less than the previous year.
A ticket of the El Gordo’s lotto can be bought for Euros 20 only. The mega jackpot was comprised of Euros 4 Million.