El Gordo - Christmas lottery first prize arrives by high-speed train

86148 is the winning number in this year's Spanish Christmas lottery. It was sold across Spain, with many tickets being sold in Madrid, and a high proportion of them in the lottery outlet in Atocha train station, the capital's high-speed train (AVE) stop, where celebrations are already in full flow.

El Gordo (literally, ‘the fat one’) was pulled out of the draw at 12:12pm and is the highest number ever to have won the first prize. The holder of every décimo (20€ ticket) with this number on it wins a whacking 400,000€. 

Since so many tickets with this number were sold in Atocha station, the main station used by travellers from other parts of Spain who come to Madrid by AVE, there is reason to believe that the prize money will be spread across the nation.

Javier Moñino, who works for the lottery outlet in Atocha station said he hoped someone would come and celebrate the prize there with him, but was also pleased by the prospect of the prize money reaching all four corners of the country.

Apart from Atocha station in Madrid, where 129 series of this number were sold, it has also been sold in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (40 series) and a series each in Santoña (Cantabria), Ayamonte (Huelva) and Calle Toledo in Madrid. 

Lidia, one of the lottery vendors at the Calle Toledo outlet said she sold the winning tickets "last night, at the last moment".

2nd prize lands in Basauri, Vizcaya

Number 72119 won the second prize, with each décimo worth 125,000€. Almost all the tickets with this number on were sold to a handball club - Atlético Basauri Balonmano Club-Basauri Eskubaloi Taldea in the town. The club's president,José Ángel García, admitted to having "goosebumps" when the number came up. In the region of 150 million euros will be shared out amongst some 400 households - team members, their families and fans.

Vizcaya picked up a 5th prize too - number 92052 - which was predominantly sold in Barakaldo, although it was also sold in Daimiel (Ciudad Real), Benidorm (Alicante), Madrid, Algeciras (Cádiz), A Coruña, Camprodón (Girona), Jaén, San Pedro del Pinatar (Murcia), Manises (Valencia), Valencia, Granadilla de Avona (Tenerife), Cádiz, Granada, O Porriño (Pontevedra) and Canet de Berenguer (Valencia).

3rd prize in Valencia

The third prize, ticket number 19517 worth 50,000 per décimo, was sold mainly in Valencia, with a little bit of luck also being shared in Calella (Barcelona),  Almería (17), Granollers (Barcelona) and Badajoz.

The Valencian Community was lucky again with one of the fourth prizes - number 42833 - which brings a windfall of 4.16 million euros to different lottery outlets spread across the regions three provinces. 

La Palma

Both the fourth and fifth prizes have been well distributed across the country and La Palma got its share of both. For this edition of the Christmas lottery, the Canary Islands saw the greatest increase in lottery sales, and the date of the eruption of the volcano in La Palma - 19921 - was one of the most popular numbers this time around.