Spain Loses Mafia-Themed Restaurants After Italy Complains

A Spanish restaurant chain called "La Mafia" is being forced to rebrand by the European Union after the Italian government complained that they shouldn't be named after a criminal organization.

According to The Local, the Italian government had been trying to get the restaurant to change its named on the grounds that going by "The Mafia" was "contrary to accepted principles of morality." Several Italian members of Parliament complained that the glamorization and commercialization of the mafia was distasteful and inaccurate.

"Perhaps we ought to start distributing leaflets outside these Spanish establishments to the families that go in, which show that child victim of the Mafia who was strangled and dissolved in acid," said MP Marco Anzaldi to The Independent. "The Mafia isn't what you see in the Coppola film, the Mafia is an aberration and we can't allow it to become Italy's global brand."

The restaurant chain and Spanish authorities had rejected the complaints, but this week the EU's Office for Intellectual Property officially sided with Italy, which means the restaurant will have to find a new name for itself if it intends to stay open.