thinkSPAIN Logo
  • Property for Sale
  • To Rent
  • Holidays
  • Directory
  • Jobs
  • News
    • € EUR
    • £ GBP
    • $ USD
    • ARS
    • AUD
    • BRL
    • CAD
    • CHF
    • CLP
    • CNY
    • COP
    • CZK
    • DKK
    • HKD
    • ISK
    • JPY
    • MXN
    • NOK
    • NZD
    • PLN
    • RUB
    • SEK
    • SGD
    • TRY
    • ZAR
    • Subscribe to our Weekly Newsletter
    • Give website feedback or report an issue
    • Professionals/Advertiser Login
    • Advertise your Property on thinkSPAIN
    • Sell your property with an estate agent
    • Add your Business to the Directory
    • Advertising with thinkSPAIN
    • List a job vacancy on thinkSPAIN
  • 0
  • 0
    • By Signing up you are agreeing with our Terms and Privacy Policy.

      Looking for the Professionals/Advertiser Login?
      Sign in with Google Sign in with Apple Sign in with Facebook
      or

      Don't have an account?  

      • Follow us:

Sign up

By Signing up you are agreeing with our Terms and Privacy Policy.
Sign in with Google Sign in with Apple Sign in with Facebook
or

Already have a thinkSPAIN account? Sign in

Sign in/Register

By Signing up you are agreeing with our Terms and Privacy Policy.
Sign in with Google Sign in with Apple Sign in with Facebook
or

Don't have an account?

Forgot your password?

Subscribe to our Newsletter

By submitting this form, you confirm that you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

Feedback is welcome

By submitting this form, you confirm that you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
thinkSPAIN Logo

Zaragoza student whose name means 'Electricity Costs a Packet' says rise in power prices is 'not her fault'

 

Zaragoza student whose name means 'Electricity Costs a Packet' says rise in power prices is 'not her fault'

thinkSPAIN Team 26/01/2017

Zaragoza student whose name means 'Electricity Costs a Packet' says rise in power prices is 'not her fault'
A YOUNG woman from Zaragoza whose name translates as 'Electricity Costs a Packet' says the recent hikes in utility bills are 'nothing to do with her'.

The 19-year-old's parents said when they had her christened, the penny did not drop – it was not until her schoolmates began to snigger and to touch her shoulder to switch her 'on' and 'off' that they put their heads in their hands.

Her first name is Luz, which translates as 'Light', but when referring to the power supply in Spanish it is this word that is normally used, rather than the directly-translated electricidad.

Luz's first surname, that of her father, is Cuesta, which translates as 'Costs' in the third person – although can also mean 'hill' or 'slope' – and her mother's surname, which is Luz's second one, is 'Mogollón', translating into a colloquial but non-sweary word describing a large quantity.

Effectively, any of Luz's siblings were automatically going to have to suffer surnames translating into 'Costs a Packet', given the Spanish tradition of children bearing their father's first surname followed by their mother's first – even reverting them, as some parents are now doing with their children as a nod to feminism – would still leave any of the Aragonese couple's children stuck with the second names of 'Mogollón Cuesta', or 'A Packet It Costs'.

Luz was named after the Virgen de la Luz ('Virgin of Light') church in Avilés, Asturias, where her parents married and they had her christened, and it is a perfectly valid girl's name in Spain, but her mum and dad did not consider that their daughter's DNI, or identity card, would end up reading 'Electricity Costs the Earth', or similar.

Luckily, Luz herself has always found her own name hilarious and joined in the joke whenever it crops up.

“On my first day at high school, when the teacher read out the register, he couldn't stop himself from bursting out laughing when he got to my name,” Luz says, laughing herself at the memory.

When she was around nine years old, a radio programme run by DJ Carlos Herrera asked listeners with strange names, or who knew of someone who had one, to call in.

Luz's sister did so, to comment on the family surname combination, but when Herrera cracked up laughing upon hearing Luz's name, their parents realised what they had done nine years ago.

Ever since then, Luz Cuesta Mogollón has been interviewed by numerous media, but her name and face have been appearing in the news more than ever lately with the historic rise in electricity prices seen over the last weekend.

Ironically, given that her ID card declares it costs a packet, Luz – who now studies languages at university – has been approached by utility companies to take part in their advertising campaigns.

“And by the way, the fact that electricity really does cost a packet at the moment is not my fault, so don't blame me!” Luz declares.

 

 

Related Topics

  • Society

You may also be interested in ...

  • Property for sale in Zaragoza
  • Property for rent in Zaragoza
  • Businesses & Services in Zaragoza
Advertisement
Advertisement

More News & Information

Spanish TV to broadcast Charles III's coronation live; cousin King Felipe attends
Society 06/05/2023
Spanish TV to broadcast Charles III's coronation live; cousin King Felipe attends

SPAIN'S reigning monarchs King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia will be present at the coronation of their British counterpart, Charles III, today (Saturday).

View
'Heir Force': Crown Princess Leonor's new military career uncovered
Society 05/05/2023
'Heir Force': Crown Princess Leonor's new military career uncovered

BIG changes are afoot for Spain's future Queen, with major new challenges in her path – and, although young Leonor is proof that being major Royalty means few privileges and limited choices, the demands on her at...

View
Off-duty midwife in Valencia bar helps customer give birth
Society 30/04/2023
Off-duty midwife in Valencia bar helps customer give birth

A WOMAN gave birth in the middle of a crowded bar in Valencia on Friday – with the help of an off-duty midwife who just happened to be having a drink there.

View
Spain population hits all-time high
Society 31/01/2023
Spain population hits all-time high

Spain is now home to more inhabitants than ever before. Census data published this week by the National Institute of Statistics (INE), puts the number of people registered as resident in Spain on January 1st 2022 at 47...

View
Advertisement
  1. Spain
  2. Aragon
  3. Zaragoza province
  4. Zaragoza city
  5. Zaragoza student whose name means 'Electricity Costs a Packet' says rise in power prices is 'not her fault'

Cookies help us deliver our services. By using our services, you agree to our use of cookies. More information