Every December, Spain stops for a lottery that is unlike any other draw on earth. This El Gordo lottery guide explains how the Spanish Christmas lottery works, what a décimo costs, what you can win, and how to check your number — in plain English, with no hype. The draw takes place every year on 22 December, and it has been a national tradition since 1812. If you have ever wondered why whole towns in Spain celebrate together on one December morning, this guide is for you. Please note: you must be 18 or older to take part, and lotteries should always be played responsibly, within a budget you can afford.
Table of Contents
- What Is El Gordo?
- Billete, Décimo and Participación: What You Are Actually Buying
- How the Draw Works: Two Drums, Three Hours, Singing Children
- El Gordo Prizes and Odds
- How to Play El Gordo
- How to Check Your Number and Claim a Prize
- Watch: The El Gordo Draw Explained
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Conclusion
What Is El Gordo?
El Gordo means “the fat one” in Spanish, and it is the nickname for the first prize in Spain’s Christmas lottery, the Sorteo Extraordinario de Navidad (Extraordinary Christmas Draw). It is often described as the world’s biggest lottery — not because one person wins a single giant jackpot, but because the total prize fund is enormous. For the 2026 draw, the prize pool is about €2.87 billion, shared across 205 series of tickets.
Unlike most lotteries, El Gordo is closer to a raffle. You do not choose your own numbers. Every ticket is printed in advance with a five-digit number, from 00000 to 99999, and the same number appears once in every series. That means thousands of people can hold the same winning number, and when El Gordo lands, whole workplaces, bars and villages celebrate together. It is a shared event in a way that few other lotteries are, and that is a big part of its charm. If you enjoy learning how different countries run their games, our guide to lottery games around the world puts El Gordo in context alongside other national draws.
The draw is organised by Loterías y Apuestas del Estado (SELAE), Spain’s state lottery operator. It has run almost every year since 1812, making it one of the oldest continuously running lotteries in the world. For more on how lotteries began, see our history of lotteries explained.
Billete, Décimo and Participación: What You Are Actually Buying
The ticket vocabulary is the first thing that confuses newcomers, so here it is in simple terms:
- Número: a five-digit number, from 00000 to 99999. This is the number printed on the ticket.
- Billete: a full ticket for one number. It is made up of 10 décimos, so it costs €200.
- Décimo: one tenth of a billete, costing €20. This is what most people buy, and it is the standard way to play.
- Participación: a small share of a décimo, sold by bars, clubs, schools and associations, usually for €3 to €5. These are often sold with a small extra donation for the club or charity.
Prizes are announced per full ticket, so a décimo wins one tenth of the stated amount. When the children sing “four million euros” for El Gordo, each décimo of that number is worth €400,000 before tax. With 205 series in 2026, the same number pays out on 2,050 décimos. A participación wins a proportional share of whatever its décimo wins, so even a €5 share can return a meaningful amount if the number hits a big prize.
Most Spaniards buy their décimos from official lottery shops, the Administraciones de Lotería, recognisable by their blue and white Loterías y Apuestas del Estado signs. Tickets can also be bought through the official SELAE website or app. You do not need to be a resident of Spain to hold an official décimo, but you must be 18 or older.
How the Draw Works: Two Drums, Three Hours, Singing Children
The draw is held on the morning of 22 December at the Teatro Real in Madrid, and it is broadcast live across Spain. It lasts around three to four hours — the longest lottery draw in the world — because it pays out thousands of prizes, one at a time.
The draw uses two large spherical cages, called bombos. The large one holds 100,000 balls, one for each five-digit number from 00000 to 99999. The small one holds 1,807 balls, each marked with a prize amount. Pupils of Madrid’s San Ildefonso school draw one ball from each drum at the same time and sing out the number and its prize. A ball from each drum is drawn together, so you learn the winning number and its prize at the same moment.
The singing children are one of the most recognisable traditions in Spanish public life, and families across the country watch the draw together over breakfast. The first prize, El Gordo, is usually drawn part-way through the morning, and the whole country seems to hold its breath until the number is sung. The draw is audited and supervised, and the balls and drums are checked before the draw begins, like the draw machines and random number systems used by other official lotteries.
El Gordo Prizes and Odds
El Gordo’s prize structure is generous because about 70% of ticket sales go back out as prizes. Here are the main prizes per €20 décimo, before tax, for the 2026 draw:
| Prize | Per décimo (€20) | Per billete (€200) |
|---|---|---|
| El Gordo (1st prize) | €400,000 | €4,000,000 |
| 2nd prize | €125,000 | €1,250,000 |
| 3rd prize | €50,000 | €500,000 |
| 4th prize (x2) | €20,000 | €200,000 |
| 5th prize (x8) | €6,000 | €60,000 |
| La Pedrea (smaller prizes) | €100 | €1,000 |
| Reintegro (money back) | €20 | €200 |
There are 15,304 prizes in each series, and roughly one number in seven wins at least something. The reintegro means that if the last digit of your number matches the last digit of the El Gordo number, you get your €20 back. One décimo can collect several prizes at once — for example, the reintegro and a pedrea prize together.
The odds of holding the El Gordo number are 1 in 100,000, far shorter than the jackpot odds of games like Powerball or EuroMillions. That is the trade-off: the top prize per décimo is smaller, but your chance of winning something is much higher. For a plain-English comparison of how lottery odds work in general, see our lottery odds explained for beginners.
On tax: the first €40,000 of a prize is tax-free, and anything above that is taxed at 20%, which is deducted before you are paid. Prize amounts and tax rules can change from year to year, so always confirm the current figures on the official SELAE website at loteriasyapuestas.es before you play.
How to Play El Gordo
Playing is simple, because the number is already printed on the ticket:
- Pick a number you like. You cannot choose a custom number — you choose from the pre-printed tickets available at the shop or online. Many people pick a number with personal meaning, such as a birth year or a lucky number.
- Decide how many shares to buy. One décimo costs €20. Buying more décimos of the same number raises your prize if it wins; buying décimos of different numbers raises your chance of winning something.
- Buy from an official source. Use an official lottery shop, or the official SELAE website or app. Keep your ticket safe — a paper décimo is a bearer document, and you need the original to claim a prize.
- Consider sharing. Many people split a number with family, friends or colleagues, each taking one or more décimos. Agree in writing who holds which share before the draw, so there is no argument afterwards.
- Watch the draw on 22 December or check your number afterwards on the official SELAE website or app.
A practical tip: popular numbers sell out early, especially in the weeks before Christmas, so if you want a specific number, buy it well in advance. Tickets go on sale months before the draw.
How to Check Your Number and Claim a Prize
After the draw, you can check your number on the official SELAE website or app, or take your décimo to any lottery shop, where it can be scanned. Our guide on how to check if your lottery ticket is a winner explains the general steps that apply to most official draws.
Prizes of up to €2,000 can be collected at any lottery shop. Larger prizes are paid through official banks — in 2026, BBVA and CaixaBank handle the payments. The deadline to claim is three months after the draw, so for the 22 December 2026 draw, prizes must be claimed by 23 March 2027. After that, unclaimed prizes expire. Keep your ticket somewhere safe and dry, and never share a photo of it showing the full number and barcode on social media.
Be careful about scams. SELAE will never contact you to say you have won a prize you did not enter, and you will never be asked to pay a fee to release a prize. If you receive a message like that, it is a fraud attempt.
Watch: The El Gordo Draw Explained
This short video explains how the Spanish Christmas lottery works and shows the draw in action:
Frequently Asked Questions
When is the El Gordo draw?
The El Gordo draw is held every year on 22 December, in the morning, at the Teatro Real in Madrid. The 2026 draw takes place on Tuesday 22 December 2026.
How much does a décimo cost?
One décimo costs €20. A full billete (10 décimos of the same number) costs €200. Smaller shares called participaciones are usually sold for €3 to €5 by clubs and associations.
What are the odds of winning El Gordo?
The odds of holding the El Gordo number are 1 in 100,000. About one number in seven wins at least one prize, because there are 15,304 prizes per series.
Can non-Spanish residents play El Gordo?
Yes. You do not need to be a resident of Spain to hold an official décimo, but you must be 18 or older, and you should buy from official sources — a lottery shop or the official SELAE website or app.
How long do I have to claim an El Gordo prize?
Prizes must be claimed within three months of the draw. For the 22 December 2026 draw, the deadline is 23 March 2027.
Is El Gordo the same as the Spanish national lottery?
El Gordo is the nickname for the first prize of the Christmas draw, the Sorteo Extraordinario de Navidad, which is run by the same state operator, SELAE, that runs Spain’s other national lottery games. It is a once-a-year special draw, not the regular weekly draw.
Conclusion
El Gordo is a lottery, but it is also a shared Spanish tradition: one number, thousands of winners, and a whole country listening to children sing out the results on a December morning. This El Gordo lottery guide has covered the essentials — the €20 décimo, the two-drum draw, the prize table, and how to check and claim. If you decide to take part, buy from an official source, keep your ticket safe, agree shares in writing, and remember the claim deadline. Above all, remember that lotteries are entertainment, not a way to make money: you must be 18 or older, and you should always play responsibly and only with money you can afford to spend.
Sources: SELAE (Loterías y Apuestas del Estado) prize programme for the Sorteo Extraordinario de Navidad 2026; El Gordo 2026: Spain’s Christmas Lottery Explained for Expats; What is the El Gordo de Navidad?