Joshua Parfitt
A WOMAN has won €8,101 from Valencia’s Town Hall after her stiletto heel got stuck between paving stones in the Plaça del Ayuntamiento.
Eva M., age not released, claimed she fell over on April 18 in 2017 after tripping over a paved manhole cover that services a traffic light.
She reportedly received medical treatment for a ‘lesion’, and demanded €16,203 for damages caused.
The original compensation claim was broken down into: €451 for six days of ‘serious damage’; €4,066 for 78 days of ‘moderate damage’; and €1,834 for more days of ‘basic damage’.
In Spain, claims are also made by evaluating damages – termed ‘secuelas’ – on a scale of 0-50 where each ‘point’ translates to roughly €1,000.
The claimant asked for €5,012 for six points of ‘secuela funcional’, for reduction in mobility; €3,239 for four points of ‘secuela estetica’, for aesthetic damage; and €1,600 for medical intervention.
The Town Hall, which repaired the manhole cover after the accident, alleged the paving stone was ‘barely exposed’ and should not have been an important obstruction to pedestrian circulation.
The local authority, which sits on the same square where Eva fell, last Friday agreed to settle for half the amount requested after admitting the fall could have been avoided.
