Omelet record attempt leaves Basque city government with egg on its face

A Guinness record attempt to make the world’s biggest ever Spanish omelet has cooked up a huge row in the Basque city of Vitoria.

With official confirmation of the achievement still pending, the feeling is taking root that the event was a failure and opposition groups in the local Popular Party (PP)-run government are demanding those responsible to be held to account. Meanwhile, the PP administration has asked its legal services to look into the matter.

The Basque Nationalist Party, Bildu and the Basque Socialists believe Vitoria has made a “fool” of itself by having failed to get into the book of Guinness World Records with its attempt to make a giant Spanish omelet in the city’s Plaza de la Virgen Blanca in August.

Their accusations have been echoed in a story published on website Norte Exprés that reported Guinness had rejected Vitoria’s application to claim the title of the world’s biggest Spanish omelet because it did not accept the way in which it was made “in pre-cooked portions,” before being put together “like a puzzle.”

The opposition believes Vitoria has made a “fool” of itself by failing in its Spanish omelet record attempt

Vitoria Mayor Javier Maroto, of the PP, said he had received no notification from Guinness that the application had been rejected but believed that the attempt to break the record was in itself a “positive” event that had been worth the effort.

City Hall sources told news agency Efe that the attempt formed part of the events to mark Vitoria’s status as this year’s Spanish Gastronomy Capital, that the association knew how to make the omelet and said the record would be “possible” to break.

Mayor Maroto has said that Vitoria would not pay €50,000 it still owes Spanish Gastronomy Capital organizers if Guinness fails to admit the record. This amount does not affect the €45,000 already paid to chef Senén González for coordinating the event.

City Hall sources also pointed out that the record attempt had been an important promotional event for the city and that sections of it had even been filmed by director Juanma Bajo Ulloa to be included in his new movie Rey Gitano.

If what the PP wanted was for Telecinco to come, they didn’t have to create this circus” Vitoria city councilor Antxon Belakortu, of Bildu

Vitoria councilor Nerea Melgosa, of the Basque Nationalist Party, said the event had undermined the prestige of the city and only served as a “show” for Mayor Maroto.

Meanwhile, Bildu councilor Antxon Belakortu condemned the “great lie” that the record attempt was and said that “if what the PP wanted was for [Spanish TV station] Telecinco to come so they could appear on TV, they didn’t have to create this circus nor give €45,000 to a specific chef.”

Basque Socialist councilor Patxi Lazcoz said news of the attempt had been reported in “73 press and 311 online outlets, as well as on the main regional and national TV stations, and even on a TV station in Kuwait.

“And now what are we going to tell them?” he asked.