It has been up there in the sky in plain view for billions of years – and nobody seems to have thought of its earning potential – until now.
A canny Spanish woman from Galicia – a sun-drenched region on the boarder with Spain and Portugal – has decided that she owns the warming star, and has the registration papers to prove it.
Angeles Duran, 49, says that the Sun officially belongs to her now, having had the celestial body registered in her name at a local notary office.
Hot property: Angeles Duran, 49, with her notary office document that proves she is the legal owner of the sun
Ms Duran told the online edition of daily El Mundo she took the step 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.
There is an international agreement which states that no country may claim ownership of a planet or star, but it says nothing about individuals, she added.
‘There was no snag, I backed my claim legally, I am not stupid, I know the law.
‘I did it but anyone else could have done it, it simply occurred to me first.’
The document issued by the notary public declares Ms Duran to be the ‘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 kilometers’.
‘I know the law’: An international agreement states that no country may claim ownership of a planet or star, but it says nothing about individuals
Ms Duran, who lives in the town of Salvaterra do Mino, said she now wants to slap a fee on 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 dedicate another 10 per cent to research, another 10 per cent to ending world hunger – and would keep the remaining 10 per cent herself.
She said: ‘It is time to start doing things the right way, if there is an idea for how to generate income and improve the economy and people’s wellbeing, why not do it?’
For those who might be a little too broke to venture out in the sunlight – and risk a large bill at the end of the day – Ms Dueran has not yet figured out a way of enforcing her sun charge.
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