El Niño:
Welcome to

El Niño: The game that rings in the new year

6th January 2023. €700,000,000. Where will you be in 2023?

Play now
About El Nino

About El Niño

You can’t talk about El Gordo without talking about its little brother, El Niño. It’s safe to say that the “fat” lottery gets mentioned way more often than its counterpart. Especially outside of Spain. Perhaps this isn’t the first website you’ve visited trying to find info on this curious new year lottery, only to get stuck on another El Gordo Christmas page in frustration. Well, fear not because we’re going to delve into all things El Niño right here!

An Introduction to the El Niño Lottery

This game has many different names, which is why it may be hard sometimes to get accurate or even up to date knowledge about it. If you search in Spanish the game is officially known as El Sorteo Extraordinario de "El Niño", roughly translated to The Extraordinary Child Sweepstakes.

However, this rather overbearing title is usually too much even for someone in Spain, so naturally, the game is usually referred to as Sorteo de "El Niño" (El Niño Draw), Lotería de "El Niño" (El Niño Lottery) or Lotería del Niño (Child lottery). Other names you might see may include the “Kings day Lotto” or the “Epiphany lotto”

Although not really on the same scale, the El Niño lottery is actually the second most popular in Spain, just after its 22nd December friend. Tickets go on sale in early November every year and are available to buy right up until the TV airing. The draw takes place on 6th January, an important day for Spanish citizens, and is drawn live from Madrid at midday.

Prize Level
First Prize - “El Gordo” Jackpot
Total Number of Prizes
1
Prize per Billete
€2,000,000
Prize per Decimo
€200,000
Total Prize Fund
€2,000,000
Prize Level
Second Prize
Total Number of Prizes
1
Prize per Billete
€750,000
Prize per Decimo
€75,000
Total Prize Fund
€750,000
Prize Level
Third Prize
Total Number of Prizes
1
Prize per Billete
€250,000
Prize per Decimo
€25,000
Total Prize Fund
€250,000
Prize Level
SPECIAL EXTRACTIONS
Total Number of Prizes
Prize per Billete
Prize per Decimo
Total Prize Fund
Prize Level
4-digit draw
Total Number of Prizes
20
Prize per Billete
€3,500
Prize per Decimo
€350
Total Prize Fund
€70,000
Prize Level
3-digit draw
Total Number of Prizes
1400
Prize per Billete
€1,000
Prize per Decimo
€100
Total Prize Fund
€480,000
Prize Level
2-digit draw
Total Number of Prizes
5000
Prize per Billete
€400
Prize per Decimo
€40
Total Prize Fund
€2,000,000
Prize Level
TOP PRIZE COMBINATIONS
Total Number of Prizes
Prize per Billete
Prize per Decimo
Total Prize Fund
Prize Level
5-Digit Numbers Before and After El Gordo Jackpot
Total Number of Prizes
2
Prize per Billete
€12,000
Prize per Decimo
€1,200
Total Prize Fund
€24,000
Prize Level
5-Digit Numbers Before and After the Second Prize
Total Number of Prizes
2
Prize per Billete
€6,100
Prize per Decimo
€610
Total Prize Fund
€12,200
Prize Level
Tickets that start with the last 3 digits of the El Gordo jackpot
Total Number of Prizes
99
Prize per Billete
€1,000
Prize per Decimo
€100
Total Prize Fund
€99,000
Prize Level
Tickets that end with the last 3 digits of the El Gordo jackpot
Total Number of Prizes
99
Prize per Billete
€1,000
Prize per Decimo
€100
Total Prize Fund
€99,000
Prize Level
Tickets that start with the first 3 digits of the Second Prize
Total Number of Prizes
99
Prize per Billete
€1,000
Prize per Decimo
€100
Total Prize Fund
€99,000
Prize Level
Tickets that end with the first 3 digits of the Second Prize
Total Number of Prizes
99
Prize per Billete
€1,000
Prize per Decimo
€100
Total Prize Fund
€99,000
Prize Level
Tickets that start with the first 3 digits of the Third Prize
Total Number of Prizes
99
Prize per Billete
€1,000
Prize per Decimo
€100
Total Prize Fund
€99,000
Prize Level
Tickets that end with the last 2 digits of the El Gordo jackpot
Total Number of Prizes
999
Prize per Billete
€1,000
Prize per Decimo
€100
Total Prize Fund
€999,000
Prize Level
Tickets that end with the last digit of El Gordo
Total Number of Prizes
9999
Prize per Billete
€200
Prize per Decimo
€20
Total Prize Fund
€1,999,800
Prize Level
Total Breakdown:
Total Number of Prizes
17,920 Prizes to Win
Prize per Billete
Prize per Decimo
Total Prize Fund

The History of the Spanish New Year Lottery

History is only as good as its historians, so although the data is difficult to find, here is our best overview of when exactly this lottery came to be and how.

The Idea

This raffle was first devised in 1877 by Duchess Maria del Carmen Hernández, wife to one of the richest Industrialists of the time. Duchess Maria was a very charitable woman, particularly when it came to children. It was her idea to create a lottery in an attempt to pay for a children's hospital located in the Spanish capital of Madrid.

There was already a children’s clinic in the area, proposed by the Duchess and constructed in early 1877, but despite being the first pediatric hospital in Spain, it was proving to be insufficient to its growing number of patients.

So, in order to fund and construct the ambitious project of building a newer, bigger children's centre, known today as the "Hospital Niño Jesús", a lottery was created, and dubbed “Raffle of the Child”. This is where the “El Niño” name caught on, as the word Niño means child. The funding went ahead thanks to the lottery and the generosity of the good duchess and its efforts can be found still operating as a children’s hospital to this day in Madrid.

The Duchess

Despite being known as a kind soul, with a heart “too big” for those around her, Duchess Maria' life does not tell a happy story. Before becoming a Duchess, she was widowed and alone. She remarried in 1873 to a wealthy Industrialist named Duke Juan Manuel de Manzanedo and enjoyed 9 years of happiness, living in a palace. During that time she became an experienced entrepreneur herself, creating a distillery known as The Three Sisters (Last Tres Hermanas), the first in the region, expanding the Lanjarón Spa, a popular health centre, and filled the role of Chair for the Association for the Care for Spanish Children.

In 1882 however, everything changed. Maria’s husband was taken ill and died suddenly. News of his death travelled to Cuba, to the ears of Josefa Manzanedo, an illegitimate daughter of the Dukes, but recognised as his heir. Through a series of lawsuits that raged over ten years, Josefa managed to take everything from Maria, including the palace she lived in, which had been a wedding gift.

Maria died in poverty in 1894, with nothing to her name except a title with no meaning or power, the hotel room in which she resided, and three orphaned grandchildren to care for, after losing her son from her first marriage.

The Mystery and Revival of El Niño

With the Duchess Maria’s fortunes lashed to a new benefactor, all origins of The Child Raffle were more or less lost to history. Records do show that the lottery continued, sporadically at first, before establishing unofficial records in 1908. But the name of this lottery and why it was created remained a mystery.

That is until 2013 when Spanish researcher Gabriel Medina Vílchez, whilst researching his latest book, came across this information and ended one of the biggest secrets in Spanish History: the ancestry of the El Niño Lottery. In 1941, official records for this lottery began, when General F. Roldán (Director of Stamp and Monopolies) ordered 4 series of 42,000 bills for this game and standardised it, making it an official public record for all. It was so successful that the tradition continued, and lives on to this day.

The Children’s Hospital

Along with the lottery, the reason the hospital was built had also been lost to history until recently. The hospital, thankfully, was already funded when Duchess Maria’s assets were taken in 1882. In 1881 the hospital was inaugurated and by 1885, its construction was complete, but the paperwork to prove ownership was unknown. In 1890 the Provincial Benefit Board of Madrid took up official ownership and continued to maintain the hospital’s integral structure. A plaque has been erected to Duchess Maria, dedicating her as the official patron of the "Hospital Niño Jesús" and as the foundation upon which modern pediatric medicine was established in Spain. In 1995, the Hospital del Niño Jesús was declared an Asset of Cultural Interest.

The draw

The first El Niño raffle actually took place on the 6th of November 1877 to much excitement and expectation. After conducting the first draw, plans for hospital construction began, with workers breaking ground on 7th November 1879. The raffle was baptized by the Duchess herself as the "National Child Raffle" in memory of those youngest lost. In turn, she established that the draw be held annually.

The El Niño Lottery in 2023

The draw for the Lottery of the Child 2023 contains 700 million euros in prizes. This 2023 celebrates the 81st edition of the game since it was officially licenced in 1941. As has been the case since 1999, it will take place on the 6th of January at 12:00pm, and will last approximately half an hour. Quite the change compared to El Gordo’s 3 and a half hour annual run time.

It is true that in this Extraordinary Draw of the Children's Lottery there are roughly 2 more opportunities to win more prizes than in the Christmas Lottery raffle, but also that the amount you can win is somewhat lower. With El Niño it is easier to make your money back, but this should not dissuade players, since some of the prizes could in fact change your life or get you out of a financial mishap.

The draw for El Niño distributes two million euros per series, known as a full ticket or 200,000 euros per tenth if you win the first prize, compared to 4,000,000 euros per series, 400,000 per tenth with El Gordo. There is also a second prize of 750,000 euros per series and 250,000 euros third prize per series.

The numbers and places for El Niño

If you’re running the numbers on El Niño, here are the latest figures to be aware of. The most popular number to appear is 0, with 21 overall appearances in the top prize. It is followed, although rather slowly, by the numbers 7 and 9, with 14 and 13 appearances respectively.

The least seen numbers are 3, 8 and 1. 3 has been seen 6 times, 8, ironically, 8 times and 1, 9 times. Below you’ll find a breakdown of the numbers

Number
Number 0
Number of times
21
Number
Number 1
Number of times
9
Number
Number 2
Number of times
11
Number
Number 3
Number of times
6
Number
Number 4
Number of times
12
Number
Number 5
Number of times
11
Number
Number 6
Number of times
10
Number
Number 7
Number of times
14
Number
Number 8
Number of times
8
Number
Number 9
Number of times
13

Numbers that have never been graced with El Gordo

El Gordo has never started with: 00, 02, 07, 15, 16, 21, 27, 34, 36, 46, 47, 50, 51, 53, 54, 59, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66 , 73, 74, 75, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 84, 85, 86, 88, 90, 94, 95, 97, 98, 99

El Gordo has never finished in: 02, 05, 09, 11, 16, 17, 21, 23, 24, 25, 28, 29, 35, 37, 40, 43, 44, 48, 52, 53, 56, 58 , 63, 64, 65, 66, 68, 73, 81, 83, 91, 92, 95, 96, 98

Places that have never won the jackpot

Cáceres, Cuenca, Guadalajara, Huesca, Tarragona and Melilla have never won the El Niño jackpot sold in their area.

History of El Niño Results

Year
1908
Number
03.897
Year
1909
Number
11.633
Year
1910
Number
03.974
Year
1911
Number
22.879
Year
1912
Number
25.714
Year
1913
Number
24.779
Year
1914
Number
23.726
Year
1915
Number
26.100
Year
1916
Number
20.950
Year
1917
Number
09.434
Year
1918
Number
20.182
Year
1919
Number
11.032
Year
1920
Number
33.915
Year
1921
Number
23.588
Year
1922
Number
05.320
Year
1923
Number
03.876
Year
1924
Number
12.130
Year
1925
Number
31.219
Year
1926
Number
37.267
Year
1927
Number
17.270
Year
1928
Number
40.897
Year
1929
Number
03.204
Year
1930
Number
18.693
Year
1931
Number
13.959
Year
1932
Number
44.489

History of Jackpot Winners

Year
1941
Number
23.594
City
Sevilla
Year
1942
Number
52.434
City
Murcia
Year
1943
Number
41.107
City
Barcelona
Year
1944
Number
44.131
City
San Sebastián
Year
1945
Number
14.862
City
Navarra, Valencia, Bizkaia, Jerez (Cádiz) Barcelona
Year
1946
Number
10.671
City
Coín (Málaga), Palma de Mallorca, Barcelona, Jerez (Cádiz), Vizcaya
Year
1947
Number
39.236
City
Madrid
Year
1948
Number
57.803
City
Madrid
Year
1949
Number
01.906
City
Oviedo, Sevilla, Barcelona
Year
1950
Number
42.370
City
Madrid, Barcelona, Sevilla, Palma de Mallorca
Year
1951
Number
56.277
City
Madrid
Year
1952
Number
18.280
City
Barcelona
Year
1953
Number
12.122
City
Inca (Baleares), Palma de Mallorca, Valencia, Barcelona, Madrid, Zaragoza
Year
1954
Number
35.520
City
Valencia
Year
1955
Number
45.551
City
Barcelona, Las Palmas, Oviedo, Sevilla, Lugo Bizkaia, Zaragoza, Madrid
Year
1956
Number
43.650
City
Sueca (Valencia), Tapia de Casariego (Asturias) Avilés (Asturias), Archena (Murcia), Getafe (Madrid), Vera (Almería), Los Barrios (Cádiz), Marmolejo (Jaén)
Year
1957
Number
35.031
City
Madrid
Year
1958
Number
06.576
City
Medina Sidonia (Cádiz), Toledo, Barcelona Bizkaia, Madrid
Year
1959
Number
12.200
City
Palencia, Madrid, Sevilla, Barcelona, Astorga (León)
Year
1960
Number
56.878
City
Gijón (Asturias)
Year
1961
Number
04.618
City
Cartagena (Murcia)
Year
1962
Number
13.310
City
Linares (Jaén), Ceuta, Don Benito (Badajoz) Barcelona, Madrid, Sevilla, Valencia
Year
1963
Number
18.886
City
León, Barcelona, Bizkaia, San Sebastián, Oñate (Guipuzkoa), Valencia, Zaragoza, Tarragona
Year
1964
Number
09.901
City
Madrid, Barcelona, Bizkaia, Córdoba, Zaragoza
Year
1965
Number
01.357
City
Madrid, Toledo, Barcelona, Zaragoza, Sama de Langreo (Asturias)