Algaida scoops lottery

Christmas came early for people in Algaida yesterday after they scooped more than 920 million euros in the Once lottery draw. Seller Maria Angeles Campos, sold 40 of the tickets with the number 73953, and brought some real midweek cheer to the area. Yesterday there was a party like atmopshere in the small town, 20 kilometres outside Palma, with many people winning as much as 100'000 euros each. They gathered outside the lottery office in the centre of the town to parade their new found wealth. Majorca, is lucky when it comes to lotteries with hundreds of people scooping relatively large prizes over the years. The biggest win was in 1995, when a sizeable proporation of the population of Coll den Rabassa won the big Christmas lottery draw known as El Gordo. Tickets for this draw, the richest in the world, are already on sale. The Balearics is one of the areas in Spain which spends the most on lottery tickets and this year many are hoping for a repeat of the success. Fingers crossed. The draw for the Christmas lottery takes place a few days before Christmas. Don't be too concerned if you are not lucky in this draw. Just before the Three King's there is the El Niño lottery draw, the second biggest in Spain.