One Man Misses Out On Village Lottery Win

Imagine for a moment you lived in a small Spanish village – 70 households, 250 people, small; let’s call it Sodeto. Now let’s imagine that every year the households of the village buy tickets in Spain’s annual Christmas lottery known as El Gordo (the fat one).

Now, what would you do if you were the only inhabitant of Sodeto not to have been sold a ticket and the numbers came in, meaning a win of $950 million (£600 million) to be shared.

Well, that’s what happened to filmmaker Costis Mitsotakis. The unfortunate chap was overlooked when the tickets were sold and now he’s had to look on as the village’s residents count their winnings. The least people have won is $130,000, while most have scooped millions.

As for Mitsotakis, he’s obviously a very philosophical man. Rather than focus on what he could have won, he’s pleased that he’s been able to sell a piece of land to one of his, by now, very rich neighbours.

(Image: Rex Features)