/ 20 February 2013

Miss Spain competition goes bankrupt

Miss Spain Aranzazu Godoy parades during the Miss World 2012 pageant.
Miss Spain Aranzazu Godoy parades during the Miss World 2012 pageant.

This has disrupted the competition that has reigned for more than 50 years.

The company, Certamen Miss Espana SL, made a voluntary application for protection from its creditors on February 7, the official state bulletin said Wednesday, joining a long list of Spanish firms forced to close in the downturn.

The Madrid Commercial Court gave creditors a month to inform the administrator of money they are owed.

Under the Spanish system, the company is placed in the hands of a receiver but could still re-emerge if its creditors can be satisfied.

Several Spanish gossip-page celebrities have competed in the contest, including Eva Gonzalez, former girlfriend of Real Madrid keeper Iker Casillas and now partner of bullfighter Cayetano Rivero.

Carmen Cervera, winner of the competition in 1961 at the age of 18, became Baroness Thyssen-Bornemisza with her third marriage and an important art collector.

Much of the baroness' fabulous collection is on display at Madrid's Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza gallery, which was named after her husband, the wealthy industrialist Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza who died in 2002. – AFP