This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-30574134

The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Giant 'El Gordo' lottery grips Spain Giant 'El Gordo' lottery grips Spain
(about 3 hours later)
The world's biggest Christmas lottery is under way in Spain, with €2.2bn (£1.7bn; $2.7bn) of prizes being drawn live on television. Christmas has come early for thousands of lucky winners in Spain's €2.2bn (£1.7bn; $2.7bn) lottery called "El Gordo" (The Fat One).
Ticket holders hope to land one of the 10 top prizes - worth €400,000 each - called "El Gordo" (The Fat One). The winners included ticket-holders in Madrid, the south-eastern regions of Murcia and Valencia, A Coruna in the north-west and Cadiz in the south.
The winners' numbers are sung by a group of 22 children, in a long-running tradition that grips the nation. It is the world's biggest Christmas lottery, and the live televised draw grips the nation.
In the past, some prizes have gone to teams of workers or small communities, providing a sudden Christmas windfall. There were 10 top prizes, worth €400,000 each, for ticket number 13437.
Ten fourth prizes, worth €20,000 each, have been drawn so far, along with most of the fifth prizes. The lottery has a huge impact for the lucky winners in Spain, where the unemployment rate is nearly 24% and even higher among the under-25s. In some cases it can help hard-up people pay off their debts.
The event is being held at Madrid's Royal Theatre. As is customary, the winners' numbers, revealed on wooden balls, were sung by a group of 22 children at Madrid's Royal Theatre.
Unlike many other lotteries, there is no single jackpot - instead the winnings are distributed among thousands of people.
The second prize was worth a total of 1.25m euros and the third prize 500,000.