Beauty contest corruption storm

Garcia Marcos offered money to a judge to win the crown

MADRID, Spain -- An undercover journalist bribed a regional beauty pageant judge, revealing alleged corruption in the Miss Spain contest.

Gema Garcia Marcos, 31, won the Miss Alicante crown after she offered 27,000 euros ($23,700) to a judge.

The transaction was filmed by hidden camera and shown in a television documentary this week.

Winning the Miss Alicante crown -- despite being seven years too old and barely able to walk in high heels -- put Garcia Marcos in the running for last weekend's Miss Spain contest, but she was disqualified when organisers discovered that she was too old.

"I know I have done something that will benefit women," Garcia Marcos said in El Mundo newspaper which she works for.

"They treat them like fairgrounds monkeys."

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The crown of an aspiring Miss Spain "costs 4-1/2 million pesetas," the journalist was quoted as saying on a web site affiliated to El Mundo's newspaper.

The alleged bribe was offered by a fake clothing company set up by the documentary's producers.

Garcia Marcos won the qualification round in February but was disqualified in the national round of Miss Spain when her age was revealed. The maximum age to enter the Miss Spain beauty contest is 24.

In Sunday's finale a 24-year-old law student, Vania Millan, beat 51 candidates to win the Miss Spain crown.

The Miss Spain Pageant had sought a court injunction against the broadcast on the grounds that some of the footage violated the privacy of the contestants.

But the court in Almeria province, where the competition was held, rejected the request on Monday.

Miss Spain Pageant's legal adviser, Jose Manuel Gomez, said in an on-air discussion following the programme on Monday that he was resigning and taking full responsibility for the alleged pay off.

The president of the pageant, Andres Cid, was not available for comment.