Spain’s fire-hit town strikes Christmas lottery gold

According to official figures, 117 series of the winning number were sold in the town, bringing about €468 million to be shared among its 10,000 residents, with each €20 ticket paying out €400,000.

The wildfires that swept through the area in August destroyed around 55,000 hectares of woodland, claimed three lives and forced some 8,000 people to flee their homes.

Javier Carrera, the mayor of La Bañeza, said winning the lottery ‘had produced a cascade of emotions after such a terrible year’.

Fortune has also smiled on the nearby town of Villablino, where residents purchased the same winning number. The community is still mourning the loss of five miners killed in an accident earlier this year.

El Gordo, a deeply rooted national tradition, features a televised draw in which schoolchildren from Madrid chant the winning numbers. Among Spaniards, it is widely believed that good fortune often follows hardship. This year, for La Bañeza and Villablino, that belief appears to have come true.

Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that an independent investigation into the causes of the recent apartment complex fire is expected to be completed within nine months, according to John Lee, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China.