Spanish beauty queen loses crown for being mother

Feb 20, 2007, 13:43 GMT

Madrid - A Spanish beauty queen who lost her title for being a mother will not get it back, a company overseeing the organization of the Miss Cantabria beauty pageant was Tuesday quoted by media reports as saying.

But the Miss Spain company pledged to seek a modification of the international rules regulating beauty contests to ensure they did not offend the dignity of women.

Angela Bustillo, 22, was elected the most beautiful woman in the northern region of Cantabria, which would have qualified her to contest the title of Miss Spain.

But a few weeks after Bustillo was elected, organizers discovered that she had a three-year-old son and withdrew her title.

Bustillo has announced legal action against the decision, pointing out that male winners of such contests could be fathers.

Spain's Socialist government and women's organizations sided with Bustillo, protesting against a rule which they described as discriminatory and unconstitutional.

'Motherhood does not cause any physical, intellectual or work- related limitations to women,' the Women's Institute said.

The Miss Spain company argued that motherhood was different from fatherhood in that it could cause physical changes preventing a 'miss' from exercising her duties.

The company said it could not restore Bustillo's title, because the Spanish request that 'misses' could not be mothers or pregnant corresponded to international criteria. It promised to seek a change in the rules.