Balearics hoping for some lottery luck

MILLIONAIRES are going to be made across Spain this morning when the winning numbers of the El Gordo (“The Fat One”) Christmas lottery are drawn this morning.

The Balearics has landed the top prize five times but, according to the latest reports, we are the region which has spent the least amount of money on Christmas lottery tickets this year so reducing the region's chances of winning.

The national average amount of money spent on Christmas lottery tickets this year has been just over 70 euros but here in the Balearics, consumers have tightened their belts and reduced their lottery stakes to an average of 41 euros, although there was a noticeable rush on last minute tickets yesterday evening.

The two most popular ticket numbers in the Balearics are those ending in three and five - series numbers ending in five have been the most common jackpot winners - but, across the country, thousands of people are also hoping that ticket number 25609, the day pop star Michael Jackson died, is the winner of the draw which is billed as the world's richest lottery.

The ticket, corresponding to June 25, 2009, “is one of the most requested” this year, according to a statement released yesterday by Ventura24.es, a website for lottery ticket sales.