Spain: Dawn will cost you, says Sun's owner

Published on Sunday 28 November 2010 14:54

A SPANISH woman has legally registered the Sun as her own property - and now wants to charge everyone on Earth for "using" it.

Angeles Duran, 49, has been issued with a title deed from lawyers in Galicia. It states she is "owner of the Sun, a star of spectral type G2, located in the centre of the solar system, located at an average distance from Earth of about 149,600,000 kilometres".

Ms Duran said she claimed ownership in September after reading about an American man who had registered himself as the owner of the Moon and most planets in our solar system.

She told the French news agency AFP: "There is an international agreement which states that no country may claim ownership of a planet or star, but it says nothing about individuals.

"There was no snag, I backed my claim legally, I am not stupid, I know the law. Anyone else could have done it, it simply occurred to me first."

Ms Duran, who lives in the town of Salvaterra do Mino, said she wants to charge everyone who uses the Sun and give half of the proceeds to the Spanish government and 20 per cent to the nation's pension fund.

She would then dedicate another 10 per cent to research, 10 per cent to ending world hunger, and keep the remaining 10 per cent for herself.