Spanish jet-set hairdresser fired from his own company

The company Peluqueria y Maquillaje was no longer "satisfied" with Llongueras' services, its manager Esther Llongueras told her 74-year-old father in a fax.

Lluis Llongueras was president of the company, created in Barcelona in 1987, which runs 18 hairdressing salons all over Spain. Most of the shares are in the hands of his former wife and their two daughters.

Sources close to Llongueras, who is remarried with three children, attributed his sacking to a family feud.

Known as the "Dali among hairdressers", Llongueras was acquainted with surrealist painter Salvador Dali (1904-89), and has helped to create the hairstyle of the likes of King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia.

He has published several books and created a line of haircare products.