Lucky Xmas lottery winners celebrate

MADRID (AP):

Winners of Spain's cherished Christmas lottery - the world's richest - celebrated yesterday in more than a dozen locations where lucky tickets were sold, a moment of uplift for a country enduring another brutal year of economic hardship.

Initial reports said there were winners of the maximum prize of €400,000 (US$530,000) in 15 towns or cities.

In Madrid, two lottery outlet workers who sold the top-prize tickets celebrated with sparkling wine as curious neighbours gathered. The fortunate winner had yet to make an appearance.

The lottery sprinkled a treasure chest of €2.5 billion (US$3.3 billion) in prize money around the country.

Unlike lotteries that generate a few big winners, Spain's version - now celebrating its 200th anniversary - has always shared the wealth more evenly instead of concentrating on vast jackpots, so thousands of tickets yield some kind of return.