Alex Trelinski
THE CHRISTMAS spirit was abruptly stopped in Murcia City on Sunday as police pulled over Father Christmas and his elves for driving in illegally-converted sleighs.
Officers brought the festive cheer to an end on one of the city’s main roads- the Gran Via- in front of the Hotel Victoria at around 6.30pm.
Four people- including a man dressed as Santa Claus and the rest as elves- found their seasonal trip suddenly terminated by a grinch-like police intervention.
Eye witnesses said that the occupants looked visibly upset and that one of the elves looked ‘especially angry’.
The Murcia Policia Local said that the Santa was driving on a large displacement motorcycle ‘crammed’ with LED lights which posed a dangerous distraction to other motorists.
The bike and car had been converted into sleighs which also failed to comply with ‘General Vehicle Regulations’.
The two vehicles were immobilised and ‘denounced’ by officers, bringing the ad-hoc Christmas parade to an end.
It’s not known what sanctions will be imposed on Santa and his not-so little helpers and whether that will prompt Murcia City to go onto his Christmas Eve ‘blacklist’ for present distribution.
