“Anybody could have done it, but I did if first”— Spanish woman claims she owns the sun, plans to charge the world for using it
A Spanish woman, Angeles Duran, has gone viral after reiterating her long-standing claim that she legally owns the Sun and intends to charge the world for using its energy.
The claim, which resurfaced on social media in late April 2026, has triggered renewed debate over space law, private property and the limits of individual legal action.
Duran, from Galicia in northern Spain, first made the claim in 2010 after registering the Sun as her property at a local notary office.
According to records, Duran registered the Sun in November 2010 in Salvaterra do Miño, describing it as a G2-type star and citing what she described as a loophole in international space law.
She argued that while international treaties bar countries from claiming celestial bodies, they do not explicitly prohibit individuals from doing so.
Legal experts, however, say the claim has no binding authority under international law.
How the Sun was ‘registered’
“I realised there was a loophole. The treaty says no country can own the Sun, but it doesn’t say an individual can’t,” Duran said at the time. “I simply did what anyone else could have done, but I thought of it first.”
She also announced plans to charge fees for the use of solar energy, proposing to distribute the proceeds to Spanish pensions, scientific research and global hunger relief, while keeping a portion for herself.
Why the claim holds no legal weight
“Outer space is the common heritage of mankind, and no private claim can override that principle,” a legal analyst said, explaining that notary registration does not confer ownership of celestial bodies.
In 2014, Duran attempted to sue an online marketplace after it blocked her from selling “plots of the Sun,” a case that further highlighted the lack of legal recognition for her claim.
