Sheik's car too big to tow in Spanish city

VALENCIA, Spain, Oct. 2 (UPI) -- Officials in a Spanish city said an Arab sheik escaped punishment for his illegally parked car because it didn't have European plates and was too large to tow.

Valencia Councilor Miguel Dominguez said Sheik Hamad bin Hamdan al Nahya of Abu Dhabi parked his custom vehicle, known as the Black Spider, in a public square in front of the Valencia town hall because the vehicle would not fit into the parking garage at the hotel where he was staying, The Local.es reported Wednesday.

Dominguez said authorities couldn't issue Hamad a fine because the car didn't have a European Union license plate. He said the car was found to be too large for a tow truck to haul away.

A representative for the sheik, a member of the Abu Dhabi Royal Ruling Family in the United Arab Emirates, said the "exclusive car" was on public display as a sign of "deference" to his host city.

Councilor Joan Ribo said it was "disrespectful and immoral that in a period of crisis" the sheik was allowed to park in front of the town hall with the "only aim of demonstrating the economic capacity of the sheik."