Non-smoking Spaniard plans to sue over his photo used as a warning on cigarette packets

A 54-year-old man is about to take legal action after his image appeared on cigarette packaging, meant as a warning to smokers.

Photo by Melanie Tata / CC BY 2.0

Spain has recently passed legislation that all cigarette packaging must display gruesome images to warn smokers of the effects of their habit. In this particular case, the man was a patient at the Santiago de Compostela hospital in April last year for back problems and was photographed as he was being prepared for an operation to fit a titanium plate in his spine. The photograph of him was used with the warning “Smoking can cause embolisms and disability” on cigarette packaging.

Un vecino de Boiro denuncia que su rostro sale en las cajetillas de tabaco y exige su retiradahttps://t.co/jnYsLKRRy8 pic.twitter.com/HKkKtp3VIy

— La Voz de Galicia (@lavozdegalicia) November 12, 2016

The man, named only as FJTA, is a resident of Boiro in Galicia and went to the Spanish civil guard last week to sign a complaint against authorities at the hospital for using an image of him without his consent or approval. He believes the photo was taken while he was unconscious, as he is wearing breathing apparatus as he is being prepared for an operation.

According to the Spanish language newspaper La Voz de Galicia, several of his neighbors recognized him on the cigarette packages and informed him. The man was naturally angry, especially as he is a non-smoker and his medical condition had nothing to do with the habit.

Spanish non-smoker complains over use of image on cigarette packets https://t.co/IftnIrHrVh pic.twitter.com/IhQlhbDK5G

— The Local Spain (@TheLocalSpain) November 15, 2016

Health authorities in Galicia have now launched an investigation to confirm that the image was indeed of FJTA and to discover how it came to be released for publication without the man’s permission.

Reportedly this isn’t the first time something like this has happened, as according to The Local, a Barcelona woman launched a similar complaint after an image of her late husband, taken when he was under treatment in a local hospital, suddenly appeared on cigarette packaging. In that case it is unknown whether the man was suffering the effects of smoking tobacco.

 

Man receives 2 year sentence for stealing 5 euros from Galicia bank

With the current and continuing economic crisis, many people are living under constant financial stress. In this case, a bank customer, who discovered that bank charges had decimated his remaining small balance, lost his temper and stole €5 ($6.20) from the bank counter.

It happened in a branch of a bank located in calle Villa de Negreira in A Coruña, Galicia, Spain.  The customer wanted to withdraw his remaining balance of €5 and approached the bank teller.

On being told that bank charges had not only wiped out his remaining funds, but had actually put his account in the red, he lost his temper and demanded an explanation.  On hearing the commotion, the bank manager came out to try and calm the situation, but the man pushed his fist into the manager's face, saying he was going to "beat the hell out of him."  Two other staff members came to the manager's aid, without any success at calming the customer down.

Eventually the man pushed them all aside, jumped over the bank counter and grabbed a €5 note from the drawer.  He then fled from the bank.

When the case hit the court recently, the man admitted he was guilty and received a two year jail sentence for aggravated robbery.


Spanish sources:
La Voz de Galicia
The Local

Photo: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported JLogan

The hunt is on for Spain's missing €4.7m lottery winner

A Good Samaritan found the winning ticket and handed it in to authorities, rather than claiming the huge winnings. Now the search is on in the Galicia region of Spain for the actual lucky winner.

The lucky numbers were 10, 17, 24, 37, 40 and 43 and the prize a whopping €4.7 million ($6.27 million).

The search is on for the lucky lottery winner in the city of La Coruña in north-western Spain whose ticket was found by an honest man on a different lottery stand in the city.

The numbers were drawn on June 30, 2012, but prize has gone unclaimed ever since. Now everyone in the region of Galicia is wondering who the lucky winner actually is.

According to Spanish daily La Voz de Galicia, the honest man who handed in the winning ticket is one Manuel Reija González, who might just be rewarded for his honesty if the true winner is not found within the next two years.

 Strangely, Rieja himself has been a lottery ticket seller for 30 years, and unless someone can provide key information on the winning ticket itself, he will be a lucky man indeed and will receive the full payout.

 To discourage false claimants, Spain’s National Lottery has revealed very little on the multimillion euro ticket in a bid to make absolutely sure they have the right person.

All that is known about the unsuspecting millionaire is that he or she probably played regularly and did the rounds when buying lottery tickets, as the ticket was found at a different shop to that which originally sold it.

So far, only one man has "tried his luck" to claim the prize and, as the police in Galicia have come to expect, was not the actual winner.

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/358517

Baby born in Spanish hotel due to hospital blunder

A woman in Galicia, Spain traveled to the hospital, as her contractions were "at first every four minutes, then every three." However, the hospital said she was not in labor and sent her home.

Despite the frequency of Margarita's contractions, the doctors at Hospital Virxe da Xunqueira in Cee, La Coruña, in their infinite wisdom, sent her away.

However, as the family's home in Merexo is quite some distance from the hospital and it was already 9pm on Sunday night, Margarita and her partner decided to stay over for the night at Hotel Insua.

She told regional daily La Voz de Galicia, "I realized we weren't going to make it very far."

Not far indeed, as it turns out that baby Marina was born just two hours later in room 216.

Despite the fact that the hotel is only a few hundred meters from the hospital, the couple were told that it would take 25 minutes for an ambulance to arrive, so there was no choice but to have the baby in the hotel room.

Manuel, the new father, said that he was managing to keep a sense of humor about the whole thing, but that he was a little on edge, due to "two days with no sleep".

The 35-year-old mother, Margarita, who has two other children, was said to be "tired" but otherwise fine after giving birth to healthy, 2.78kg baby Marina.

It seems hotel staff was unaware of the events in room 216 until doctors and an ambulance crew turned up to take the newborn and her mother to the hospital.

"Because it's not everyday something like this happens," Pilar Insua, owner of the hotel sent flowers to the family and invited them to stay at Hotel Insua free of charge to celebrate baby's Marina's first birthday.

The hotel even posted an photo of the baby on their Facebook page.

As to the registration of the birth, the medical report merely states "born Avda Finisterre, 82" (the hotel's address), as if nothing out of the ordinary happened.

To the source: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/353613

Spanish mayor volunteers for second job as music school caretaker

Rafael García Guerrero is the socialist mayor of Noia in the A Coruña province of Galicia. The caretaker of the local music school resigned, so Guerrero is giving up his evenings to do the man's job, with no pay.

Due to the latest government rules and austerity measures, Guerrero is unable to replace the caretaker at the music school. 

 

The previous incumbent resigned at the end of the 2011-2012 school year, and Guerrero felt he had to do something about the problem.

 

"The situation came about because we are forbidden from hiring anyone else," the mayor of Noia explained to the media.

 

The ban on replacing staff is part of the recent austerity cuts which have seen budgets of local authorities across Spain slashed.

 

"Now, whenever a municipal worker resigns, or someone goes on leave, we have to fill the post any way we can," said Guerrero. "The thing is, we have the money. We just can't spend it." he added.This in a country with a 25 percent unemployment rate.

And so, to give the children's parents some peace of mind, he spends a few hours at the school daily.

 

"I spend three hours a day at the school," Guerrero told The Local on Thursday, explaining that he works from 5pm to 8pm each evening. 

 

"My main role is just to be there and supervise the children between classes," he added. "I don't mind doing it," he said. "The kids play their instruments well and it's quite pleasant." 

 

But the PSOE mayor did add that the situation in Noia shows that "the current system isn't working."

 

He did tell ABC.es that he will have a short vacation soon. "Now I have a vacation because the school year ends."

 

"But it's all a bit contradictory," lamented the mayor, reiterating the fact that his local government could easily afford the caretaker, if only he was allowed to employ one.

 

Noia is a historic, coastal town, located around 40 kilometers from the city of Santiago de Compostela.

 

 

To the source: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/352155