Play Spain EuroMillions in South Africa

EuroMillions is a world-famous lottery which was first initiated in February 2004. The EuroMillions lottery was a result of the coming together of the Francais des Jeux, Loterias y Apuestas del Estado and the Camelot. These are the national lottery operators of France, Spain and the United Kingdom, respectively. The first EuroMillions draw took place on 13th February 2004 in Paris. A few months later, in the October 2004 draw, the number of participating countries increased. The likes of Austria, Belgian, Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal and Switzerland joined the founding countries of France, Spain and the UK.

The idea of the founding countries was to create a lottery that players from across Europe could participate in and which could compete with the likes of some of the biggest lotteries in the world, such as the US Powerball or the Mega Millions. This transaction lottery was formed and launched with the plan to attract players from all over Europe and thus drive the value of the jackpots to great heights every week. Compared to several other international lotteries of around the same size, Euro Millions certainly offers better odds, and this is why players from other parts of the world are also keen to participate in it.

In some participating countries, the EuroMillions come with certain special features. For example, Ireland EuroMillions has an exclusive option known as ‘Plus’ where €1.00 is added per line. Likewise, France EuroMillions has the option of My Million, where €0.50 is added per line, and Portugal has the M1lhão. Swiss tickets have the option of second chance draws.

In Spain and Andorra, the EuroMillions is operated by the Loterias y Apuestas del Estado even today. This is one of the oldest and most well-established lottery operators in Europe. EuroMillions tickets that are purchased out of Spain have proven to be lucky in the past. The record for the largest amount of EuroMillions jackpot wins is currently held by Spain. There have been 89 winning tickets to come out of Spain so far.

Is it Possible to Play Spain EuroMillions from South Africa?

As we mentioned above, when the EuroMillions lottery is weighed against other lotteries of comparable jackpot sizes, the EuroMillions offers much better odds. Given that your chances of winning a massive jackpot is better when playing EuroMillions than most other lotteries, it is understandable that even players from outside of the participating European countries (Spain, France, England, Austria, Ireland, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Belgium and Portugal) also want to piece of the action.

Thankfully, the regulations and rules of the EuroMillions allow players of any nationality to participate in the lottery. Therefore, even if you are not a national of one of the 9 participating countries, you can still play and win the EuroMillions as long as you are over the age of 18.

The EuroMillions is particularly popular amongst South African players. South African players seem to, especially like purchasing Spain EuroMillions tickets since these tickets hold the record for the highest number of wins. However, unless you are actually in Spain, you may not be able to visit a retailer in person and buy a EuroMillions ticket. This is where the solution of using an online lottery service comes into play. Using third-party online lottery ticket purchasing services, it is possible for South African punters to play the Spain EuroMillions. To discover other international lotteries accepting South African players, check out our guide.

How Does it Work?

If you are based in South Africa and would like to play the Spain EuroMillions, the best option is to use a third-party lottery ticket purchasing service unless you want to take a trip to Spain and buy the ticket yourself. There are several trusted and authorized online lottery services available to South African players.

Using such websites, players from South Africa can play lotteries from outside South Africa. To do so, it is mandatory to sign up for an account. Once you have an account, you can log in to your account, choose the international lottery of your choice, pick your lottery numbers and make an online payment to buy the lottery ticket. Once your payment is confirmed, an agent of the lottery service who is based in Spain (if you play the Spain EuroMillions) will actually visit a shop and buy the ticket as you specified on your behalf. A scanned copy of the ticket is also emailed to you as confirmation.

Game Details

The EuroMillions, as played in Spain, is a transactional lottery that offers huge jackpots at comparatively better odds. There are a range of main numbers and a smaller range of lucky star numbers. The jackpot is the highest reward of the Spain EuroMillions and also the one with the lowest odds of winning.

Including the jackpot, there are a total of 13 prizes awarded. The maximum prize money is capped at €200 million. The cap was increased from €190 million as recently as February 2020. Depending on which EuroMillions you are playing, the cost per line is usually around €2.50. If you are playing from an online lottery website, then the price might be slightly higher with the convenience fee included.

How to Play

It is pretty straightforward and uncomplicated to play the EuroMillions, especially the Spanish EuroMillions. You will need to buy a ticket before the cutoff time for the upcoming draw in which you want to participate. On the ticket, you have to choose five main numbers from a range of 1 to 50 and two lucky star numbers (the two numbers cannot be the same) from a range of 1 – 12.

Once you make your selections, you can simply pay for the ticket to confirm. You can purchase as many entries as you like. Only players above the age of 18 are allowed to play. Non-residents and tourists are also allowed to participate.

How to buy a ticket

You can buy a Spain EuroMillions ticket at approved lottery kiosks in Spain which the Loterias y Apuestas del Estado operates. The price per line is €2.50. However, if you are not in Spain and still want to play, there are various trusted online lottery websites such as The Lotter, Lottery Master, Jackpot.com, Giant Lottos and Lotto Send through which players can buy their tickets in just a few easy clicks.

Draw Dates

EuroMillions is a bi-weekly lottery and this means that there are two draws every week. The draw happens in Paris, France on Tuesdays and Fridays at 8:45 pm local time. For South African players, the time is also 8:45 pm since Europe time and South Africa time zones are the same.

EuroMillions Odds

You may have read in various places that one of the best lotteries to play in terms of the odds offered is the EuroMillions. This is entirely true. When compared to the likes of Mega Millions or the US Powerball, the odds of winning the EuroMillions jackpot are better. However, you must keep in mind that even though the odds are comparatively better, they are not good odds by any stretch of the imagination.

Even when playing the EuroMillions, your odds of winning the top jackpot prize are minute. However, there are a total of 13 prizes up for grabs and the odds for winning some of the less lucrative prizes are much more realistic.

Below, you will find the odds for the different rewards offered by Spain EuroMillions.

What Happens if You Win and How to Claim the Money

If you happen to be the winner of one of the 13 prizes offered by the EuroMillions, the process to claim and receive your money may vary depending on the amount of the prize money you won. If you are in Spain, then you can simply go to an approved lottery retail centre and they will help you with the process to claim your prize. The jackpot prize is awarded in lump-sum cash payment and there is no annuity payment option.

For tickets purchased out of Spain, unfortunately, Spain is one of the few European countries that tax lottery wins. Therefore 20% of the winning amount for wins over €40,000 is taxed.

However, use an online lottery service. You will generally receive an email or even an SMS notification from your lottery service provider stating the next steps to claim the prize money. Some lotteries require the player to be physically present in the country to claim the prize, and in this case, you may be flown out to Spain.

As per the Spain EuroMillions rules, prizes up to €2000 can be paid out without the person being physically present. Prizes up to €600 are paid directly to your online account, while prizes above €600 and €2000 are paid directly into your bank account. Prizes over €2000 can be claimed from any Loterias y Apuestas sales outlet. Winnings will be paid via bank transfer.

EuroMillions Spain winners have 3 months to claim their prizes.

Where Can I Buy Tickets From?

Players based in South Africa can purchase EuroMillions lottery tickets from trusted online lottery services such as The Lotter, Lottery Master, Jackpot.com, Giant Lottos and Lotto Send.

If you are located in Spain or any of the other European participating countries, you can buy the EuroMillions ticket at approved retailers that may be found at convenience stores and other such locations.

Biggest Jackpots Won with EuroMillions

Over the years, many players from all over the world have become multi-millionaires, courtesy of the EuroMillions. There have been several hundred jackpot winners crowned since the inception of the EuroMillions in February of 2020. At the time of writing, the number of players that won a EuroMillions prize (not jackpot exclusively) is 3,152,862,860, and this number goes up every week.

Tickets out of Spain seem to be blessed with luck when it comes to winning the big jackpot. Spain holds the record for the greatest number of jackpot wins so far over all other participating countries. Spain has had 89 winning tickets.

A few of the biggest-ever EuroMillions jackpot winners are as below:

A ticket holder from Switzerland became the new record holder to win the highest possible capped jackpot prize of €210 million. The winner chose to by anonymous. The player is said to have purchased the ticket online.

A player from France who remained anonymous won the jackpot prize on 11th December 2020 and was rewarded with €200 million. This was the first jackpot win once the cap on the jackpot prize was raised from €190 million to €200 million.

Why Play EuroMillions

There are many reasons to play the lottery, and the EuroMillions is no different. In fact, if you had to choose one lottery where the jackpot offered is huge and yet the odds are better than other lotteries offering comparable jackpots, it would be the EuroMillions.

The EuroMillions is very easy to play and you can participate in two draws every week. A lot of players who won the EuroMillions jackpot and became multi-millionaires overnight are regular players that just played every draw for as little as €2.50 per line. If you ask one of them, they will tell you it is the best investment they ever made. Also, EuroMillions accepts South African players to participate through online mediums, and this is another reason which should compel you to play.