People wait for the start of the draw at Madrid's Teatro Real opera house during Spain's bumper Christmas lottery draw known as El Gordo, or The Fat One, in Madrid, Spain, Friday, Dec. 22, 2023.

Other lotteries have bigger individual top prizes but Spain's Christmas lottery, held each year on Dec. 22, is ranked as the world's richest for the total prize money involved.

Spain’s 200-year-old holiday lottery, "The Fat One," delivered a hefty prize again this year, with over $2.8 billion in prizes warbled out by schoolchildren and watched live around the world.

FILE - Lottery sellers celebrate in front of their shop after selling a winning ticket of the first prize of Spain's Christmas lottery ''El Gordo'' of calle Aranal de Madrid, on Dec. 22, 2022.

MADRID — For weeks, Spaniards had anticipated the arrival of “El Gordo” or “The Fat One.” But unlike Santa Claus, El Gordo arrived three days before Christmas, before noon on Sunday. El ...

Players with winning tickets in Spain's huge Christmas lottery draw on Sunday celebrated with sparkling wine, cheers and hugs in a 200-year-old tradition that marks the beginning of the Christmas ...

The immensely popular lottery will distribute a total of $2.8 billion in prizes this year, much of it in small prizes. Street and bar celebrations normally break out with winners singing and dancing.

Other lotteries have bigger individual top prizes but Spain’s Christmas lottery, held each year on Dec. 22, is ranked as the world’s richest for the total prize money involved.

Lucky holders of 20-euro tickets with the number 88008 are celebrating. They have each won 400,000 euros ($440,000), in the top prize of Spain's huge Christmas lottery.