Madrid, December 12 (EFE). – The drums and the remaining elements with which the extraordinary Christmas raffle will take place, which will award prizes worth 2.772 million euros, are already at the Teatro Real, where they arrived this Friday and where they will wait under strict security measures for 24 hours until December 22nd.
It was early this morning when the majestic drums made their entry into the Real together with the funnel that allows the balls to be transported from the lira to the drum and the trumpet from which the balls enter the cup, as Loterías y Apuestas del Estado reported in a statement.
As every year, the large drum (with a ball diameter of 1.58 meters) was placed on the stage to accommodate the 100,000 number balls that take part in the raffle. It was made 19 years ago from a brass and bronze alloy, has a height of 2.64 meters, a width of 2.11 meters and an approximate weight of 850 kilograms.
Next to it is the small drum, which is responsible for distributing the prizes and is made of the same materials, but with smaller dimensions: 1.60 meters high and 1.28 meters wide, with a ball diameter of 0.74 meters and a weight of around 450 kilos.
The 100,000 number balls and 1,807 winning balls have also arrived at the Teatro Real, among which the popular “Gordo” stands out, which pays out 4 million euros per series.
Each individual ball is made of boxwood, has engraved numbers and has the same weight (3 grams) and the same size (18 millimeters).
From this Friday, all elements of the draw will remain 16 meters below the stage and guarded by strict security measures 24 hours a day until they take to the stage in the early hours of December 21, while the final details are sorted out so they can appear “in all their glory”.
This year, the edition of the extraordinary Christmas raffle reaches 3,960 million euros, of which 70% will be distributed in the form of prizes, for a total of 2,772 million euros.
Among the prizes awarded in the Christmas lottery, which popularly marks the beginning of the Christmas holidays, the first prize, “El Gordo”, stands out, with 4,000,000 euros for the series; the second prize, 1,250,000 euros for the series; and the third with 500,000 euros for the series. EFE
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