In an astonishing stroke of fortune, 450 residents from the village of Villamanín, situated in the province of León in northwestern Spain, landed the jackpot in a Christmas lottery
A village that won £29 million on the lottery has been struck by disaster after some residents lost out on their windfalls due to an error. In an incredible stroke of fortune last week (December 22), 450 residents from the village of Villamanín, situated in the province of León in northwestern Spain, landed the jackpot in the country’s Christmas lottery, El Gordo.
In total, the lucky villagers won more than €34 million (roughly £29.6 million) after collectively using the winning number, 79,432, but a nightmare arose when 50 people lost out on their cash due to an administrative error.
El Gordo offered up a winter total worth a staggering €2.77 billion (about £2.4 billion), with each successful ticket scooping up €4 million (around £3.4 million), and players were presented with two choices.
They could either shell out €200 (£174) for an entire ticket or, in an option that many Spanish players reportedly select, they could buy tenths of the tickets, meaning they’d potentially land 10 per cent of the prize.
Meanwhile, the Villamanín festival committee has been buying them for the past seven years and flogging the partial tickets to locals in an effort to fund what was described as local activities, reports Le Soir.
Last week, the committee struck gold when the number it played proved to be the winner, but agonisingly, there was a major problem; owing to a failure to officially register some tickets, 50 lost out.
It meant that they lost around €4,000,000 (£3.4 million). In the aftermath, some players levelled accusations of fraud at the organisers, according to El País, although the committee has refuted these claims.
One member said: “We didn’t steal anything.” In further comments that emerged at a recent public meeting, a member also declared: “Tonight, we have lost friends.”
There is a silver lining for the unfortunate players, however, as a compromise has been agreed upon to rectify the situation – the committee will reportedly surrender its winnings of €1.2 to €2 million (about £1 to £1.7 million).
That’s not all, though, as a further small percentage is set to be cut from the remaining prizes to add to the pot. Commenting on the decision, one resident, as reported by Le Parisien, said: “The real lucky ones are those who didn’t buy a ticket.”
The committee itself has declared that it is making efforts to launch a channel to “correctly handle the necessary administrative and banking procedures” with the impacted players.
Those who run the organisation have requested “patience and understanding”, stressing that they have sought the services of legal specialists to “analyse in detail the various possible alternatives and ensure that any steps taken are done so with the maximum guarantees of security and rigour for all those involved.”
In a statement, commission members addressed the creation of the channel: “This step is essential in order to move forward in an orderly and secure manner in the next phases of the process.”
In further details, reports suggest that the agreement involves reducing the cash prize for the winners by 5 to 10 per cent of the €80,000 (about £70,000) corresponding to individual tickets.
However, some anonymous residents have revealed that they plan to go to court in an effort to seek full payment or to hold the organisers civilly liable.
