What began as a festive dream for a small Spanish community has rapidly unravelled into a bitter dispute, after a multi-million pound lottery win was marred by a costly administrative mistake.
From Jackpot Joy to Administrative Agony
In an incredible stroke of fortune on 22 December, the 450 residents of Villamanín, a village in the province of León in northwestern Spain, hit the jackpot in the country's famed El Gordo Christmas lottery. The winning number, 79,432, secured the community a total windfall of more than €34 million (roughly £29.6 million).
The tickets had been purchased and distributed over the past seven years by the local festival committee, which sold tenths of tickets to villagers to fund community activities. When their number came up, it should have been a cause for universal celebration.
The Costly Oversight That Shattered the Dream
Tragically for 50 of those involved, the dream soon turned into a nightmare. Owing to a failure to officially register some of the tickets, these residents found themselves completely excluded from the payout. This administrative error meant the group collectively lost out on around €4,000,000 (approximately £3.4 million).
In the angry aftermath, some players accused the organisers of fraud, claims which the committee has strongly denied. "We didn't steal anything," one member stated. The human cost of the blunder was starkly summarised at a public meeting, where another organiser lamented, "Tonight, we have lost friends."
A Compromise Reached, But Legal Action Looms
In an effort to rectify the situation, a compromise has been hammered out. The festival committee has agreed to surrender its own winnings of between €1.2 and €2 million (about £1 to £1.7 million). Furthermore, a small percentage – reported to be between 5 and 10 per cent – will be deducted from the remaining winners' individual prizes of €80,000 (around £70,000) to add to the compensation pot.
The committee says it is setting up a dedicated channel to "correctly handle the necessary administrative and banking procedures" with those affected, and has enlisted legal specialists to navigate the crisis. They have appealed for "patience and understanding."
However, the agreement has not satisfied everyone. Some anonymous residents have revealed they plan to go to court to seek full payment or to hold the organisers civilly liable. As one resident wryly observed to Le Parisien, "The real lucky ones are those who didn't buy a ticket."
The episode serves as a stark reminder that even the most extraordinary luck can be undone by simple human error, leaving a lasting divide in a once-united community.
