A Gambian man who crossed from the Mediterranean by boat and an unemployed mother of two were among those rejoicing after the world’s biggest lottery sprayed money across Spain. On Thursday, the country celebrated the Christmas lottery known as El Gordo, or the Fat One, which dished out €2.5bn (£2.2bn) in prize money. The most sought-after ticket – worth €325,000 after taxes – was sold in cities across the country, setting off raucous celebrations that spanned from the north-western city of A Coruña to Almería in the south. As the numbers were called out in Madrid’s Teatro Real theatre, the audience erupted into wild cheers as they realised a member of the audience was among the lucky ones holding a winning ticket. Perla Gavidia, originally from Peru, later told reporters she had lost her job at a cafe two years earlier. “I felt [the prize] would strike me here today,” she said she choked back tears. The windfall would be used to buy herself a flat in Madrid and pay for her children’s studies, she added. Spain’s Christmas lottery tradition, which dates back to 1812, sees relatives, co-workers, friends and members of social and sport clubs pool their funds together to buy tickets. This year was no exception, as people across Spain sought respite after a year racked by soaring prices on food and fuel. Stories of the winners dominated Spanish media on Thursday. In Catalonia, musician Ibrahim Cante said he would put his winnings of €125,000 towards investing in a studio. “It’s the first time I bought a lottery ticket since arriving in 2017,” he said excitedly. Originally from the Gambia, Cante told broadcaster TVE that he had spent five years traversing various countries in Africa before making the treacherous Mediterranean crossing from Libya to Italy. He eventually travelled by bus to Spain. Not all of the stories were joyous, however. At an underground car park in Madrid where 2,000 employees of a public company in Madrid were celebrating a win of at least €25,000 each – offering up rounds of karaoke, conga lines and cava – a handful of glum-faced employees wandered around, perhaps hinting at office tensions to come. They were the unlucky ones, the ones that had not bought tickets. “I’m a scientist and this goes against statistics,” one told the newspaper El País. Another said she had started at the consulting company just six weeks earlier. “I would have liked to buy it but by the time I found out, it was too late.” Their sombre faces, however, did little to dampen the mood in the car park. “We realised we had won because all of a sudden we started to hear screams in the office,” said one employee. “It’s a shared joy, which is the best thing,” added another. “It’s time to celebrate.”