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    Entire Spanish village wins lottery, minus one unlucky resident

    Two winners of this year's El Gordo lottery. (Manuel Buque/EPA)Back in December, the tiny Spanish village of Sodeto collectively won a major stake in the annual $950 million Spanish national lottery. Today, the New York Times reports, the village of farmers and construction workers is enjoying a minimum payout of $130,000 per resident.

    And yet for all of the new wealth making its way around Sodeto, one villager came away empty-handed. Costis Mitsotakis, a Greek filmmaker who moved to the village for a woman, is the only resident of Sodeto who did not purchase a ticket. Mitsotakis says he is no longer with the woman and now lives in a barn he is restoring just outside the village. From the Times:

    Mr. Mitsotakis said it would have been nice to win. But he has benefited nonetheless. He had been trying to sell some land without much success. The day after the lottery a neighbor called to say he would buy it. The next day another neighbor called. But Mr. Mitsotakis refused to get into a bidding war. "This is a small village," he said. "You don't want bad feelings."

    Spain's national lottery, known as "El Gordo" (the fat one), was first established in 1812 and operates somewhat differently than most American lotteries. For example, this year there were 1,800 first-prize winning tickets, each with the same winning number of 58268. Each winning ticket was awarded a cash-prize equaling $520,000. But since each ticket costs $26, Spain allows them to be divided into as many as six "participations."

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    • Alexis  •  Omaha, Nebraska  •  24 days ago
      anyone else realize how closely his name is to "costly mistake"? fate?!...
    • Raul Santiago  •  Lugo, Spain  •  25 days ago
      I have cousins in that village. It is already a nightmare, which the journalist seems to have missed. People are drunk, people are fighting, much of the regular work isn't getting done and the place is getting to be a mess. More money more problems.
    • NOitALL  •  Pleasanton, California  •  3 mths ago
      Congrats to them all, I can only imagin how Mr. Mitsotakis feels, No woman and no money.
      • SawBuc 3 mths ago
        well, one out of 2 ain't bad
      • Blue 3 mths ago
        no you can't imagine that. you live in a rich bada$$ city in bay area.
      • Eyerish 3 mths ago
        He's probably the luckiest one in the village...no one to nag him, he can do what he wants, when he wants to and probably has enough money to survive on. What more does one need?
    • gino  •  Caimital Alto, Puerto Rico  •  3 mths ago
      $130.000 is good money but i wouldn't exactly call it being rich.
      • Bitha 3 mths ago
        IF YOU HAD NOTHING

        ITS 130K MORE THAN YOU HAD

        YOU'RE RICH

        Dont buy into the self defeating leftist hate philosophy that its a zero sum game
      • Johnathan 3 mths ago
        AND in spain US money is a lot more valuable. idk the chnange but atleast 2x more
      • Johnathan 3 mths ago
        change*
    • Emmie Z  •  Madrid, Spain  •  3 mths ago
      its true,there are many spanish people WIN in the lottery here in spain............this loterry is traditional.iam living here...........every year they are playing EL GORDO.
    • Jayfans  •  3 mths ago
      The "unlucky" guy will probably be the happiest guy a year from now.....money DOES NOT make a person happy, even though I think all of us would like to find out for ourselves.
      • John 3 mths ago
        Yeah, but consider the number of places you can go to, to find happiness. :)
      • kaelis4u 3 mths ago
        John, the local rub and tug doesn't count.
      • Jacob 3 mths ago
        I disagree Jayfans..I've lived through poverty and it was not a happy time for me and my family..in my opinion money buys freedom..and to me freedom is happiness, but then again, everyone has their own definition of HAPPINESS.
        I'll take a winning jackpot over poverty anyday!
    • strawberryshortcake36330  •  3 mths ago
      Am i the only one that thinks they are ridiculous to get THAT excited over $130,000 each? That wouldn't even pay off my mortgage....
      • Doug 3 mths ago
        You do know about conversion rates and that money in different countries can buy different things?
      • Shonda 3 mths ago
        Oh so, you wouldn't be excited if you won 130,000....doubt that. Stop sounding to ignorant.
      • Gman 3 mths ago
        you are fogetting where in the world we are talking about. This region is an area where 130k would set most of these people for life
    • Diane  •  Jackson, Mississippi  •  3 mths ago
      Several Americans would have felt they had won the lottery if our Pres. had given each American who was out of work $250,000 for the sole purpose of either paying on house/buying new, or a new car, or paying off credit card debt. That would have helped realtors,banks,car dealerships,and credit card companies, as it would have cirulated the money. Instead he gave it to 10 Corps. who raised their salary, and added to the unemployment.
      Lottery , what a joke.
      • Bubba 3 mths ago
        Ummm... that is the lamest idea I've ever heard. Let's put welfare on steroids and screw those that work their tails off...
      • Obamasux 3 mths ago
        So, your proposal would be to give everyone $250K. First the govt would have to collect this money. Should it be borrowed from China and owe them back $350K each? Or, should the working people be taxed $500K each in order to pay this? The government has no money.
      • Elliott 3 mths ago
        This never ending bush recession is not a joke to many Americans and the bush economic collapse and financial meltdown is not a joke to the worlds economies Diane. You have a wicked sense!!
    • Nick  •  3 mths ago
      Sounds to me like that Greek guy really took it in the asss.
    • Harlow  •  3 mths ago
      They sound like sweet people. Good attitudes and good fortune to one and all. Congratulations!
    • Fred  •  Dearborn, Michigan  •  3 mths ago
      "Some of the ladies talked about going to the hairdresser. But the hairdresser won, too. And she said, 'I'm not working today.' So that ended that."

      I love it!!
    • scar  •  3 mths ago
      It's good to hear a lot of people all share the wealth instead of just one lucky winner.......
    • Jeremy  •  3 mths ago
      I bet that guy will end up being the only one without credit card debt in a year.
    • Genesis  •  3 mths ago
      The next day another neighbor called. But Mr. Mitsotakis refused to get into a bidding war. "This is a small village," he said. "You don't want bad feelings."

      Mitsotakis is a class act; you don't find that sense of community anymore. Nice story.
    • Nuclear Nemesis  •  Decatur, Illinois  •  3 mths ago
      Some of you may recall a book or the movie adaption called the "Mouse That Roared". In it, the Duchy of Grand Fenwick wins a war against the United State (someone at the Department of State mislaid the declaration, we didn't know we were at war) and, as part of the settlement, gets $7 million dollars. In sequels, it comes out the all that money causes rampant inflation and no one in the Duchy wants to work. Sounds like life imitates art in Spain, for a lot less cash.
    • jo  •  3 mths ago
      you can take my wife and she will bankrupt this village in 2 days
    • mateo  •  Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands  •  3 mths ago
      I've only played the lottery 2 times in my whole life. Both times was when my entire office bought a bunch of tickets together. I did it, not because I thought we had any chance of winning, but because if by some chance we did and I didn't buy in I would feel like such a shmcuck.
    • Rioesmarex  •  Beaverton, Oregon  •  3 mths ago
      Why is the U.S. the ONLY country in the world that taxes lottery winnings ?
      Disgusting Gov't. greed ... very similar to corporate greed
    • Dean K  •  Eugene, Oregon  •  3 mths ago
      I challenge Yahoo to do a followup story on this village 18 months from now! That is what the filmmaker should make his next movie about.
    • wakajawaka  •  Boise, Idaho  •  3 mths ago
      "But the hairdresser won, too. And she said, 'I'm not working today.' So that ended that." Priceless!
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