It was a festive and rich Christmas for 1,850 Spaniards holding the winning number 06381 for Spain's lottery. With a $3.1 million jackpot, the winners received $430,000 each.

The jackpot money was spread across 11 Spanish provinces where the tickets were sold, including Madrid, Barcelona and Alicante. In contrast, ticket holders of the second prize all came from Barcelona.

The lottery, aired over Spain's television and radio stations, had three-fourths of Spaniards and thousands of foreigners glued to the program.

The lottery has been a Spanish tradition since 1812. The jackpot money is usually not won by an individual since the lottery organizers push for the idea of sharing the wealth by encouraging office workers, families, sports clubs and other groups to purchase the lottery tickets together.

The Christmas lottery, called El Gordo or the Fat One, drew $4.8 million bets in what is considered Spain's favorite Yuletide tradition. The amount raised is 5.7 percent higher than 2006's. It started initially as a charity in 1763 during the reign of King Carlos III, but has evolved into a fund raising venture for the national treasury.

The winners celebrated their financial windfall by drinking toasts and singing on Saturday.