The joke is that the Spanish don’t like to work. And too much Rioja and siesta means that the joke sometimes has some truth to it. No wonder every Spaniard wants to get lucky at Christmas time – but the only present they’re looking for is to win El Gordo (‘The Fat One’), Spain’s worldfamous festive lottery.

In the months leading up to 22 December, it’s estimated that 30 million Spaniards go lottery crazy, snapping up thousands of tickets in the hope that they can claim a piece of the gargantuan US$2.5 billion prize pool. But it’s not just this enormous sum of money for which El Gordo is so famous; apparently the chances of walking away with some sort of cash prize are about one in six!