Spain's 'El Gordo' lottery begins $2.8 billion draw

Spain's world-famous "El Gordo" Christmas lottery organizers began broadcasting the draw from the Teatro Real opera house in Madrid on Sunday morning, with winnings totalling more than €2.7 billion ($2.8 billion) up for grabs.

As per tradition, pupils from Madrid's San Ildefonso boarding school started singing the first winning numbers.

Spanish broadcaster RTVE is showing the typically hours-long event live, in the presence of around 400 spectators, it said. Millions are expected to follow the event on television.

Most of the lottery tickets are sold in Spain but an increasing number of foreigners are participating online.

The lottery, established more than 200 years ago, is considered the oldest in the world. Due to the total prize money, which increases annually, it is referred to as the largest raffle on the planet.

The top prize, called "El Gordo" (the Fat One), amounts to €4 million for a full ticket. This year, it will be paid out 193 times - eight times more than last year, and as many times as each of the 100,000 ticket numbers is sold.

The total prize money represents 70% of this year's sales revenue of €3.86 billion.

The draw uses two lottery drums. The first, larger drum contains 100,000 wooden balls with the ticket numbers and the second contains about 1,800 wooden balls with the prize amounts.

During the draw, two balls always fall simultaneously from the two drums into a glass bowl. The ceremony lasts at least around three hours as many smaller prizes are also awarded.