Don't panic! It's the arrival of an integral part of a Spanish Christmas... El Gordo Xmas Lottery ticket is now on sale.

This means that if you’re looking for a 5-digit number that corresponds with an important date: your birth year, your marriage year… or something a little more cheerful like your granddaughter’s birth date, then you had better get your finger out.

Anybody who does not have at least five lottery tickets sitting in front of them on the 22nd of December, when the school kids starts singing out the numbers on TV is a tourist rather than a seasoned resident!

OK, it lost something of its magic when the kids started sing euuuuu-ros! instead of peseeeee-tas! but it’s not a Spanish Christmas without El Gordo! (The Big One).

There’s 180 million decimos out there and a chance to win one of the 2,520, prizes that will come out of the Bombo! You can buy them online or in any lottery shop. Heck, get them from a lottery office to keep it a bit more traditional.

(News: Spain)