Inside 'El Gordo,' the world's largest lottery that's routinely worth billions

Heino Kalis/Reuters

Wednesday's Powerball drawing will be worth a staggering $700 million, the second-biggest jackpot in US history.

That's still less than half the record jackpot set in 2016 of $1.5 billion.

But in order to earn the title of "largest in the world," the latest Powerball would have to defeat a 204-year-old lottery called El Gordo, the Spanish Christmas Lottery that has taken place every year since 1812 and is routinely worth billions.

In 2012, for example, El Gordo's prize pool was a gigantic $3.3 billion.

While that giant prize pool may get split among thousands of winners — in other words, there is no one mega-jackpot — the drawing's three-hour ceremony, held strictly at 9:00 a.m. and followed by torrents of wine, is a sacred part of Spanish culture.

Unbelievably, the very first El Gordo ceremony was held five days before Spain ratified its Constitution in 1812. It has continued every year since then, even through the country's civil war in the early 20th century.

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The ceremony proceeds largely the same way, with two children pulling balls from two giant hoppers. One hopper has the winning numbers; the other has the dollar amount.

Andrea Comas/Reuters

During the three-hour ceremony, the entire country is hoping their five-digit ticket will match with the top prize: the El Gordo ball. In 2015, that ball alone was worth $700 million, which was split between roughly 1,600 people in the the southern coastal town of Roquetas de Mar.

Juan Medina/Reuters


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