Spain's Christmas Lottery Begins: €2.77 Billion in Prizes

December 22nd is a day of excitement across Spain. Thousands will tune in on TV, radio, or online via ElDia.es to see if their lottery ticket has won. Just minutes before the draw begins, many in the Canary Islands are wondering, "What time does the Christmas Lottery start in Tenerife?"

This highly anticipated draw traditionally kicks off at 9:00 AM (mainland Spain time) from Madrid's Royal Theatre. For those in the Canary Islands, this means you can watch from 8:00 AM, an hour earlier. Once it begins, TV and radio will provide live updates, and you'll likely hear the famous "mil euros" chant from the San Ildefonso children – a unique sound that officially signals the start of Christmas every year.

You can follow the Christmas Lottery Draw on most major channels. La 1, Antena 3, and Telecinco will all broadcast it live. Televisión Canaria (RTVC) will also connect to the Royal Theatre from 7:30 AM Canary Islands time.

ElDia.es will also provide live online coverage, so you won't miss any of the action from the Extraordinary Christmas Lottery Draw.

This year, the State Lottery (Loterías y Apuestas del Estado) will hand out a massive 2.772 billion euros in prizes – that's 70 million euros more than last year.

If you're lucky enough to win, you can start collecting your prize this afternoon, once all checks are done. You have three months to claim your winnings. Prizes up to 2,000 euros can be collected at any lottery office. For larger amounts, you'll need to go to a bank. BBVA and CaixaBank are the banks that have an agreement with the Lottery for prize payments.

A total of 198 million lottery tickets (décimos) were sold, making up 198 series – five more than last year. Each series contains 100,000 numbers, bringing the total value of tickets issued to 3.960 billion euros.