Christmas lottery frenzy grips Spain

The first prize (400,000 euros per ticket) of the traditional Spanish Christmas lottery “El Gordo” (the Fat One) went to those who have one of the tickets of lottery number 62246, according to LAE which issued tickets.

The lottery shares out a total of 2.24 billion euros (approximately 3.24 trillion won). The drawings were conducted Sunday (local time).

Other prizes per ticket are 125,000 euros for the second prize; 50,000 euros for the third; 20,000 euros for the fourth; and 6,000 euros for the fifth, LAE said.

The Spanish law makes it mandatory for the winners to pay 20 percent of their prize money in tax.

In Spain where the unemployment rate reaches 25 percent, the number of people who buy lotteries dropped the fifth straight year this year, reports said.

Park Sae-jin swatchsjp@ajunews.com