Excitement abounds in the small Spanish beach town of Roquetas de Mar, as lottery players in the town have earned over €600m in cash prizes. The El Gordo lottery is the largest lottery in the world, which gives away over €2bn each and every year. The small beach town recently had a party in front of the local lottery retailer after the winning number was sold in the town. The winning number showed up on 1,600 lottery tickets, with each player paying €20 to pay and ended up earning a €400,000 prize!

The people of the town will end up earning €640m thanks to the winning numbers and the big cash jackpot. The win makes the town the luckiest place in Spain for the 2015 draw. Jose Martin is the lottery vendor in the town and was surprised to see that El Gordo was won in the town. The winning tickets were sold widely throughout the area, with some tickets going towards tourists as well as a few being sold to those in the Canary Islands.

Unemployment rates are high, so the wins were much needed in the town. The El Gordo lottery is a 200 year old lottery that has major significance for Spaniards as they continue to struggle with the after effects of an economic crisis. Of the prize money, the majority went to those in Almeria, which has an unemployment rate of 31%, well above the Spanish average.

Roquetas de Mar Mayor, Gabriel Amat, stated that the win yesterday is just what the town needed. Amat said the win was very important for the town, especially considering the difficult times having been faced in the town. Of the winning tickets, almost half were purchased by a high school in Laujar de Andarax, who used the tickets for a fundraiser for a trip to Italy.

According to Amat, most people in the town have a ticket or a share in one. Everyone is going crazy and no one can believe that the win is real. Amat stated the money went to people who are down to earth, who work hard and really needed the money.

El Gordo, is one of the most popular customs at Christmas time for Spain. Meaning ‘the fat one’, friends and family go in together to purchase tickets to try and win a piece of the massive lottery jackpot prize.