Snoring sexagenarian wins Spanish siesta contest

Madrid: A 62-year-old Ecuadorean man managed to ignore the uproar of a teeming Madrid shopping centre and snore loudly enough to win what was billed as Spain's first siesta championship.

Organisers on Saturday proclaimed unemployed security worker Pedro Soria Lopez the champion for sleeping 17 minutes.

They said he not only slept soundly but his snoring on Tuesday also registered 70 decibels — roughly the equivalent of the noise of someone talking loudly. That earned him extra points and enough to defeat the runner-up who had slept for 18 minutes.

"Oh, I am so happy to be the first champion," said a laughing Quito-born Soria Lopez, who sported a handsome paunch and a drop-bar black mustache.

He said he was a regular siesta taker, and it looked as if he was telling the truth.