Boo, Boo!

So a good friend of ours graciously decides to send DD a ring (anillo, in castilian) from the other side of the world to mark DD's 50th Birthday. She sent it by courier in 'early time', at least six weeks before the event so that I could take it to Cairo and present it to DD on her behalf.

The gift has been witheld by customs for over six weeks now, somewhere in the depths of Madrid airport, as they struggled first to locate it and then send me a 'budget' of the customs duty due on it.

What you see above is the budget, just received. The customs' duty free limit for an import of this kind is Euros 150, the ring has a value of Euros 170. The customs duty on the excess of Eurs 20 is stated as Euros 7.60. Add on the government taxes and admin fees and the total payabe is Euros 68.87; 40% of the value of the goods.

Boo, and double Boo!

What could I do but pay it...and blip it. At least the diamonds give it an aesthetically pleasing touch. Well done that budget designer!