A lottery worth $1.1 billion was held in five regions of Spain this past weekend and couldn't have come at a better time. Spain is currently going through a deep recession and people have had a tough time simply getting a job for over six months.
The "El Nino" (The Child) lottery is held during each Feast of the Epiphany, Jan. 6, and the winning tickets were purchased in Alicante, Leon, Madrid, Murica, and Tenerife according to the Associated Press.
Lottery tickets cost customers approximately $26 and the most a single person could win is $260,240. Winning isn't all good however, as a new law aimed at helping the recovering economy states that anyone who wins more than $3,250 in the lottery has to pay 20 percent income tax.
People waited in lines outside of ticket offices regardless to purchase a ticket. Over 200 of the winning numbers have been sold at a ticket office in Alcorcon in southwest Madrid.
"I am very excited because I really needed this," said Josefina, one of three winners celebrating there, who declined to give her surname to the Associated Press. "Now that I've won, I just think I've been very lucky."
The "El Nino" lottery isn't the biggest one that Spain holds however. Spain's largest lottery, "El Gordo" (The Fat One) is held annually on Dec. 22 and in 2012 the top prize was $3.3 billion in prize money.
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