Spanish Christmas Lottery 2026 (El Gordo): date, prizes, tax and where it fell in Catalonia

The Spanish Christmas Lottery 2026 is drawn on Tuesday 22 December at the Teatro Real in Madrid, and the first prize, El Gordo, is €400,000 per €20 décimo. It is the Spanish state lottery's (SELAE's) Christmas draw: 205 series of 100,000 numbers, from 00000 to 99999, and €2.87 billion in prizes. The 2026 start time has not been announced yet (31 October 2026); in 2025 RTVE broadcast it live on La 1 from 8:00. On draw day, the winning numbers and the Catalan towns that sold them will be here.

Spanish Christmas Lottery 2026 results

The draw is on Tuesday 22 December 2026. SELAE publishes the winning numbers on its Lotería Nacional page, which has a number checker, and the official prize list, the only one that counts for payment, on the afternoon of the 22nd (as it did in 2025). We will add El Gordo and the other big prizes here as soon as they are out.

The 2025 results, for reference: El Gordo was 79432; second 70048; third 90693; the fourth prizes 25508 and 78477; and the eight fifth prizes 18669, 23112, 25412, 41716, 60649, 61366, 77715 and 94273, according to the official SELAE list. The money-back digit (reintegro) was 2.

Where did the Christmas Lottery prizes fall in Catalonia?

As soon as SELAE publishes where the big prizes were sold, the Catalan towns that sold El Gordo, the second and the third prize will be listed here.

In 2025, according to SELAE's lists of points of sale, neither El Gordo (79432) nor the second prize (70048) was sold in Catalonia: the first went to La Pola de Gordón, Villablino and La Bañeza (León) and to Madrid, the second to Madrid only. The third prize (90693) did reach Catalonia: Barcelona, el Prat de Llobregat, Monistrol de Montserrat, Sant Boi de Llobregat and Terrassa (Barcelona province); Cadaqués, Girona and Sant Joan de les Abadesses (Girona province); Vielha e Mijaran (Lleida province). The two fourth prizes (25508 and 78477) were sold in Arenys de Mar, Badalona, Barcelona and Sant Boi de Llobregat (Barcelona province); Olot (Girona province); Sort (Lleida province), among other places; SELAE does not say which of the two each outlet sold.

How much Catalonia plays. In 2024 Catalonia bought €423,498,540 of Christmas Lottery tickets, €53.55 per inhabitant, below the Spanish average of €73.00, according to SELAE's 2025 dossier. Of the four provinces, Lleida plays the most: €108.44 per inhabitant, ahead of Tarragona (€51.76), Barcelona (€50.69) and Girona (€45.62).

A draw in Barcelona. In 1938, in the middle of the Civil War, two Christmas draws were held on 22 December, one in Barcelona and one in Burgos, SELAE recalls.

When is the Spanish Christmas Lottery 2026 draw, at what time, and where can you watch it?

The draw is on Tuesday 22 December 2026 at the Teatro Real in Madrid, according to SELAE's draw calendar. SELAE has not announced the time yet (31 October 2026). In 2025, according to SELAE's press dossier, the presiding table was constituted at 8:30, and SELAE expected the draw to last about four hours.

Where to watch. In 2025, according to RTVE, the draw went out live on La 1, TVE Internacional and RTVE Play from 8:00, and Radio Nacional ran a special from 8:30 to 13:30. That year RTVE produced the feed and gave it free to every broadcaster.

Until when can you buy? On SELAE's website and app, until 23:45 on Monday 21 December, the night before the draw, according to SELAE's countdown. Tuesday 22 December 2026 is a normal working day in Catalonia (is today a holiday?).

How the draw works: two drums and the San Ildefonso children

It is a traditional draw with two drums: the big one holds the 100,000 number balls and the small one a ball for each prize drawn from the drum, 1,807 in 2025. One child from the San Ildefonso residence in Madrid takes a ball from the numbers drum while another takes one from the prizes drum, and two more children sing them out.

SELAE says the singing can contain mistakes, which is why it is checked several times; the only result valid for payment is the official prize list, which in 2025 went out to outlets and the media on the afternoon of 22 December and was posted on SELAE's website (2025 dossier).

Spanish Christmas Lottery 2026 prizes

SELAE issues 205 series of 100,000 numbers, seven more than in 2025, worth €4.1 billion in all; 70%, €2.87 billion, goes to prizes. Each number has 205 full tickets (billetes), one per series, and each €200 billete is split into ten €20 décimos. SELAE's prize programme gives the amounts per billete; a décimo wins a tenth:

The pedrea is the 1,794 prizes of €100 per décimo drawn alongside the big ones. The money back (reintegro): every décimo ending in the same digit as El Gordo gets its €20 back, except El Gordo itself, according to the official 2025 list.

Prizes add up: a décimo ending in El Gordo's last two digits also ends in its last digit, so it wins €100 plus €20 money back, €120 (in its 2025 dossier, SELAE put it as €6 per euro played).

Where to buy Christmas Lottery tickets: official channels only

• SELAE outlets: lottery shops (administraciones) and other shops in the state lottery's retail network, almost 11,000 across Spain, according to SELAE.
• SELAE's website and app (loteriasyapuestas.es): choose a number or let the system pick one, and buy 1 to 10 décimos at a time. These are virtual décimos, with no paper, that play under the same conditions as paper ones; prizes are paid in without presenting anything.

SELAE points out that under-18s may not take part in its games, at outlets or online (Gaming Act 13/2011).

How to check your Christmas Lottery décimo

• On SELAE's website: the Lotería Nacional page has a number checker.
• On the official prize list: the only one that counts for payment; in 2025 SELAE posted it on its website on the afternoon of the draw. It includes the pedrea, the numbers next to the big prizes (marked a), the hundreds (c) and the endings (t).
• If you bought online, SELAE tells you by email and SMS, and prizes under €2,000 are paid into your account's wallet automatically (SELAE).

Where to collect a Christmas Lottery prize

• Under €2,000 per décimo: at any SELAE outlet. In 2025 they could be paid in cash or by Bizum.
• €2,000 or more: only at BBVA and CaixaBank branches. You do not need to be a customer, there is no fee, and you must bring a valid original ID; SELAE recommends booking an appointment.
• Shared décimo: to collect €2,000 or more, every holder must go to identify themselves, or appoint a representative with powers granted before a notary.
• Bought online: under €2,000, into your wallet automatically (anything above the €400 maximum balance goes to your bank account); €2,000 or more, by bank transfer once the account is verified (SELAE).

When: in 2025 SELAE began paying on the afternoon of 22 December itself, once the checks were complete. Deadline: the right to collect expires three months after the day following the draw, according to the official list; for the 2025 draw, the last day was 23 March 2026.

If a winning décimo is damaged, take it to an outlet with the prize payment request form and SELAE will authenticate it. If it was stolen, SELAE recommends reporting it to the authorities.

How is the Spanish Christmas Lottery taxed?

Prizes of up to €40,000 per décimo are tax-free. Of anything above €40,000, the tax office keeps 20%: this is the special levy on lottery prizes in Spain's income tax law (additional provision 33), withheld when you collect, according to SELAE. Per €20 décimo:

The levy is worked out per décimo. If a décimo belongs to several people, the €40,000 exemption is split according to each one's share. People who are not resident in Spain pay the same levy with the same exemption, according to the Agencia Tributaria (Spain's tax agency).

Christmas Lottery, La Grossa de Cap d'Any and El Niño

The Christmas Lottery is the Spanish state's (SELAE's) and is drawn in Madrid. In Catalonia, nine days later, comes La Grossa de Cap d'Any, the Catalan government's lottery: it is drawn on Thursday 31 December 2026, a ticket costs €10 and the first prize is €200,000 per ticket. Tickets for one are no good for the other.

Then comes SELAE's El Niño draw on Wednesday 6 January 2027, with €2 million per series for the first prize and €20 décimos, according to the Lotería Nacional page. For the rest of the holidays, see Christmas in Barcelona and New Year's Eve in Barcelona.

Data on this page last verified: 31 October 2026.

Keep reading

• La Grossa de Cap d'Any 2026: results and prizes
• Barcelona Christmas lights switch-on and what's open
• New Year's Eve in Barcelona: the Montjuïc show and the metro
• Catalan Christmas traditions: tió, caganer and Sant Esteve
• December 2026 public holidays in Catalonia: 8, 25 and 26 Dec
• Is today a public holiday in Catalonia?