Spain's Christmas lottery workers lobby for 25% jackpot increase

As ticket sales hit record levels, vendors are calling for a bigger prize to reflect the cost of living

Spain’s Christmas lottery, Lotería de Navidad, is just around the corner, and you have probably seen the long queues outside the lottery shops. The Christmas lottery is famous for its massive prize pool, and hearing the children sing out the winning numbers kicks off the Christmas season in Spain.

Spain’s Christmas lotto is not your average lottery. Instead of one big jackpot it has thousands of prizes totalling more than €2.7 billion. The top prize is known as ‘El Gordo’ or ‘the big one’ and pays out €4 million for the overall ticket or €400,000 per décimo (that’s per 10th-share of the ticket). 

It is more common for a décimo to be purchased than a full ticket, and many people buy a décimo from a variety of different ticket holders with different numbers to have a better chance of winning. Buying one is a Christmas tradition in Spain and it is common to split tickets with friends, family, colleagues or even your local café.

The first €40,000 of any prize is tax-free, and only the three highest payouts exceed that threshold, meaning more than 99% of winnings stay tax-free. 

Why lottery workers are calling for a change

Lottery sellers across Spain are reporting record sales yet again. Even though prices are through the roof and many families are finding Christmas harder to afford this year, more than €3.5 billion in tickets is expected to be sold, with over 24 million people taking part. Despite the boom and the constant demand for tickets, workers are pointing out that the top prize hasn’t been updated in 14 years and the cost of living has risen sharply.

Many are now lobbying for the main prize to increase by 25%, bringing it from €400,000 to €500,000 per décimo to reflect rising costs and keep the draw interesting.

While the Christmas lottery is the most important and the busiest event of the year for sellers, their commission on each ticket is actually lower than during the rest of the year. They receive around 4.5% during the Christmas campaign compared to 6% on other draws, despite working longer hours and needing extra staff. Many say it is time for this to be updated.

The lottery network in Spain includes more than 4,000 official points of sale and employs over 12,000 people. For many of these workers, the Christmas draw represents up to 80% of their annual sales.

Image: by Barcex, CC