A small town in northern Spain has reached a compromise after a ticket sales error threatened to leave some winners of the country’s iconic Christmas lottery empty handed.
Spanish media reported on Saturday that everyone holding a ticket with the winning number of the main prize, called El Gordo (The Fat One), will now receive almost their full winnings.
Celebrations in Villamanin, a town of fewer than 1,000 residents, on Monday over winnings totalling almost €35 million (US$41.2 million) turned to horror and anger just a few days later.
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The local festival committee in the town inadvertently sold more shares in official lottery tickets than it had actually bought – a mistake that meant that some “lucky” ticket holders risked receiving little or nothing from the shared payout.
To resolve the issue, the festival committee agreed to forgo part of its own winnings, while individual ticket holders also accepted slightly reduced payouts.
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