This year's winning entry (left) and the design in 2016. sur

Controversy over winning entry for Malaga fair poster: original or a copy?

The council is studying a claim from someone who entered the competition in 2016 that her design has been used and improved on so the entry has broken the rules

Ángel de los Ríos

Malaga

Monday, 20 June 2022, 14:18 | Updated 15:48h.

Controversy has arisen over the chosen poster for Malaga fair, which the public voted for this year, after someone who entered the competition in 2016 claimed on social media that her design has been plagiarised.

Vanesa Torres Sánchez’s entry six years ago was of a girl with her back turned, in a traditional long frilly dress, walking up Calle Larios. In the poster that attracted the most votes this year, the colours and style are different, but it also features a girl in a similar dress, viewed from behind as she walks up a street.

“The entry which has been chosen by the public as this year’s poster for the fair has taken my idea and improved on it. That’s all there is to it. The entries have to be original,” said Vanesa on her Facebook page.

The designer of the poster, titled La Mar de Feria, has not yet been named, but their entry won more votes from the public than any other; in principle therefore they are the winner and entitled to the prize money of 3,600 euros. However, the council says it will announce who the winner is later this week, when it has had a chance to study the plagiarism claim and the small print in the competition rules.

In total, there were 184 entries from all over Spain for this year's poster. None of the designs is allowed to be signed; they all have a symbol or slogan on the back to identify them and the applicants attach a sealed envelope containing their application form and personal details. The judges met last Monday to decide the five finalists, and then the public decided which of those entries they like best.