Christmas came early for thousands of Spaniards today as the country's festive lottery — the world's largest — paid out a total of more than €2 billion (£1.34 billion), the equivalent of €50 (£34) for every member of the population.

With an estimated 75 per cent of the country taking part, millions of people gathered in front of televisions this morning to watch the prize draw and learn the number of "El Gordo", The Fat One: the winning prize of €3 million (£2 million) that was given to the holders of 180 winning tickets.

And just before ten o'clock this morning, children from Madrid’s San Ildefonso school sang out the magic digits: 20297.

Under the complex rules of Spain's Lotería de Navidad, which dates from 1812, single tickets are expensive: costing €200 (£134) each. This leads to hundreds of syndicates, in neighbourhoods, offices, bars and restaurants, with individuals often owning one or more décimos — a tenth — in various numbers.

Once The Gordo and subsequent smaller prizes are drawn, hasty calculations are made as to the luckiest town and region of Spain and this morning there was only one winner: Rebollo de Duero, a tiny village in Soria, Spain's least populous province, where 31 inhabitants shared 60 winning décimos, a total of €18 million (£12 million).

"Everyone got at least one," a jubilant civil servant, who identified himself only as Octavio, told Cadena SER radio. "I have left work and I’m going to the village now to ring the bells."

As a result, Soria emerged as Spain's winning province for the first time, taking €390 million (£262 million) of the €540 million (£362 million) awarded to El Gordo holders. Seville took another €90 million (£60 million).

In Onil, a town near Valencia and one of eight in Spain to sell the winning tickets, Maria Mercedes Mira Reig, the mayor, said the winnings would work out to €6,000 (£4,023) for each of the 7,500 inhabitants.

"It's a great joy," she said, even though she hadn't bought one herself.

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