Man Arrested In Spain For Smiling. Outrage after a British man was arrested for smiling in Spain today.
Man Arrested In Spain For Smiling
A British man has fallen foul of new laws which were rushed into effect by the Spanish government last night. The 52 year old Englishman was arrested in Benalmadena by police, who witnessed him smiling whilst eating dinner at a local restaurant.
New Law Introduced
Spain has been introducing new laws regularly over the last few months, including banning karaoke singing, banning brothels, and banning drinking in places that don’t serve food. The latest law goes a step further, and bans fun completely. Alfonso Aburrido from the Fun Analysis Regional Team says “We’ve been slowly bringing in laws to stop people enjoying themselves, but yesterday we had a brainwave. Why not just ban fun altogether? So we have. It’s now illegal to have fun in Spain”.
British Man Facing Deportation
The first Brit to be arrested under the new laws is now awaiting sentencing in a local jail. Joe King lives in Benalmadena but is originally from Birmingham. His solicitor says “Actually he’s not from Birmingham, he’s from Solihull. My client was eating dinner, and smiled as he ate a chip. Nearby police took this as evidence that he was having fun and arrested him. He’s now facing a €200 fine and deportation on a Ryanair flight to the UK. Understandably he’s terrified, no one wants to fly Ryanair”.
Outraged Expats
The new law is causing outrage amongst British expats in Spain. Anne Fernandez runs a Facebook group where outraged Brits discuss things ranging from a lack of colostomy bag facilities in local restaurants and Brexit. Anne says “This is outrageous, to make having fun illegal is just madness. My members are so outraged. Judy had planned to have fun in the middle of December and is devastated that she won’t be able to do this”.
Devastated Business Owners
The ban on fun is expected to impact local businesses which rely on people enjoying themselves. The owner of The Old Bunion Sports Bar in Fuengirola feels that this could decimate his trade. Frazzle took a break from shouting at his staff for doing a good job to tell us “people need to be free to have fun. I remember in 2014 there was a customer in here who had fun, if this law had been in place then he would have been arrested”.
Some people have suggested that we have just made this up and we are scaremongering. Stew Pidd says “this is probably fake news. Anything I don’t understand is fake news, especially jokes I don’t get or don’t like. This is obviously fake news. You’re just scaremongering. You won’t get away with this after Brexit. They need us more than we need them. Big up Boris. Brexit is best!”.
Do you think that the ban on fun is a step too far? Have your say in the comments below.
Written by Joe Kerr, Costa Del Sol Update
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bullshit
As the article says it follows on from the other law changes in recent months and if we are ever going to rid ourselves of this terrible coronavirus then we must all accept that we must obey the law. It is that simple. I know 3 people who have had covid and I don’t want it. Obey the law.
Just thinking about possibly having fun or especially laughing, should also be banned! And those inciting fun or telling a joke, 30 days in prison immediately!