The winners of Spain’s cherished Christmas lottery – the world’s richest – celebrated around the country yesterday, a moment of joy and relief after another year of a brutal financial crisis.

Millions were glued to their televisions as €2.5 billion in prize money was distributed. The draw is so popular that most of Spain’s 46 million people watched at least part of the live four-hour show, hoping they would hear their ticket as school children called out the lucky numbers.

Unlike lotteries that offer one large jackpot, Spain’s yuletide drawing sprinkles a variety of winnings on thousands of ticketholders.

The top prize – known as El Gordo (The Fat One) – gave lucky winners €400,000 per ticket yesterday, while the second best number netted them €125,000.

However, this year for the first time, the tax man will claim 20 per cent of winnings above €2,500, as the Spanish government strives to right an economy saddled with a sky-high unemployment rate of 26 per cent.

Winning El Gordo tickets this year were sold in at least eight locations throughout the country, including Madrid, Barcelona and the northern industrial city of Modragon, where large electrical appliance manufacturer Fagor Electrodomesticos filed for bankruptcy in October.

El Gordo winner, Raul Clavero, 27, a mechanic living in the Madrid suburb of Leganes said he had been watching the drawing in bed when he realised he’d won.

“We jumped out of bed and ran out,” he said, adding that he would “pay the mortgage, that’s the first thing, and then just enjoy the rest”.