File picture shows a man holding up his lottery ticket during a draw in Madrid on December 22, 2011/AFP
MADRID September 17- Spanish officials on Tuesday were seeking the winner of a 4.7 million euro ($6.3 million) lottery jackpot after the lucky ticket was found unclaimed.
The slip of paper turned up in La Coruna, northwestern Spain, the city’s mayor said. Media reports said the vendor who sold it found it on his counter.
“It is a very unusual item. It is not a necklace or a wallet that has been lost, but a lottery ticket worth nearly five million euros,” said mayor Carlos Negreira in a statement.
“I am going to be the only mayor in Spain who is looking for a millionaire not so as to ask for money but to give it.”
The vendor handed the ticket, issued for a lottery draw in June 2012, back to the state lottery company.
After a year went by without it being claimed, the lottery reported it to La Coruna’s city hall, which is legally charged with advertising lost property.
It posted an announcement on the lost and found section of its website on Monday, at the top of a list of mislaid mobile telephones and keys.
The city hall will “reliably” test the claim of anyone who comes forward for the winnings, Negreira said.
“If no one comes forward who meets the conditions in the next two years, the ticket will be handed to the person who found it.”
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