Hundreds of fans of Spain’s annual Christmas lottery turned out to the draw yesterday, some clad in wacky costumes and all hoping to win a piece of the pie and forget their economic woes.

Europe’s biggest lottery, the El Gordo or ‘The Fat One’ will pay out a total of €2.47 billion in prize money this year, down from €2.68 billion in 2011.

With the draw beamed live on television, the country held its collective breath when two schoolchildren announced the winning number: 76058.

“This year again, I didn’t win, but that’s okay. We’re there with friends to have fun and clown around. It’s kind of a way to counter the crisis,” said Enrique Vilches, an 80-year-old retiree decked out in a clown costume.

Like many others, Vilches spent more than he would have liked on the lottery, whose tradition holds that anyone who is gifted a ticket must return the favour.

“I spent around €200 but if my wife knew that she’d kill me,” he said.

The couple share a €900 a month pension, which they also use to help out the grandchildren whose parents are unemployed like many in a country whose jobless rate is around 25 per cent.

While residents spent eight percent less on the draw this year, they still dished out an average of €52 per person, down from €57 last year.