A tiny Spanish village has scooped a €720 million (£600m) jackpot in the country’s famous Christmas lottery.

The top prize in the €2.52bn (£2.1bn) draw – dubbed “El Gordo” (The Fat One) – will be shared between the 1,800 of Granen’s 2,000 residents who bought tickets bearing the number 58268.

Each will receive around €400,000 (£333,000) for their €20 (£17) ticket.

Granen residents could hardly believe their good fortune

News of the win brought residents of the town in the north eastern Spanish region of Huesca out onto the streets to dance, sing, hug each other and spray sparkling wine.

Eleuterio Sanchez, a pensioner who was among the lucky winners said: “I was in bed and a friend called and said the winning number was in Huesca, ending in 8.

“I put on the TV, the number is 58268 and I realise that it is our number. I still cannot believe it.”

Pilar Azagra, who runs the town’s lottery store, said: “It’s brilliant.

“I haven’t had time to react, the number came out and then people started flocking to the shop.”

Ms Azagra said the windfall was more than welcome as several companies in Granen had closed because of the economic crisis.

Spain is struggling to emerge from a near two-year recession that has left it with a 21.5% unemployment rate – the highest in the eurozone.

The Gordo lottery aims for a share-the-wealth system, rather than a single jackpot, ensuring there are thousands of winners every week.