THE world’s biggest lottery draw began this morning, and Brits have the chance to win big with their share of a £3billion prize pot.
The draw itself is a huge spectacle, lasting four hours, and almost all of Spain will stop to watch.
The lottery, known as “El Gordo” (the fat one) is held once a year, and is famous for giving out the most cash prizes per ticket purchased in the world.
Spaniards across the country eagerly await news of if or what they’ve won – the average citizen spends €70 on tickets for El Gordo each year, according to the State lottery association.
But Brits can enter the lottery as well, whether they live in the UK or in sunny Spain.
Schoolchildren are singing the winning numbers at a theatre in Madrid, with the ceremony broadcast live on TV and radio.
The children, from Madrid’s San Ildefonso school, are the stars of the show at the Teatro Real.
They catch balls as they fly out of two large drums, then musically announce the numbers and corresponding prizes.
Winnings are given out based on decimos, with each ticket representing a tenth of each prize pot.
But not all tickets are equally popular – sources say that odd numbers are more popular than even numbers.
And the most popular numbers of all are 13, 15 and 69.
The lucky players who have bought a tenth of the top prize, the El Gordo number, will bag a huge €400,000.