Two Burger King clients tell Spanish director to "go back to Mexico"

By Hasley Pitman

A heated exchange between two customers and the manager of a Spanish speaking Florida Burger King in the restaurant was filmed and viewed 22,000 times on social media.

"Go back to Mexico if you want to continue speaking Spanish," we hear from a woman while she is sitting with her meal and to another woman.

"Guess what madam? I am not Mexican, "said Ricardo Castillo, who is originally from Puerto Rico." You have prejudices and I want you to leave my restaurant right now. "

We see Castillo arguing with women and defending his right to speak Spanish as a Puerto Rican-American at Eustis Restaurant, about 40 km north of Orlando.

"When I heard" You can not speak Spanish in public, "I took my phone and felt like" Hold, "said client Neyzha Borrero, who recorded the exchange.

She started recording from her seat before seeing the two women arguing with Castillo.

Borrero said she was from Puerto Rico and that she was not surprised by what had happened.

"I am able to speak English and Spanish," said Borrero. "There are people who can speak other languages. They should not feel discriminated against in their country. They should be proud to be able to learn another language and to contact more people. "

Castillo later said that he spoke Spanish with an employee. The women said that they had received a complaint, but he did not know what it was about and offered to help.

"I can not believe that at this age, there are still people like that," Castillo said in an interview with The Daily Commercial. "We are all the same. We are all human beings. We are bleeding red. "

Burger King said the restaurant owner Eustis "is studying the issue".

"There is no room for discrimination in our restaurants," said Dori Alvarez, Burger King spokeswoman. "We expect employees and guests to treat each other with respect."

In the video, Castillo explains to the women that, although he is not Mexican, the owner of the restaurant is of Mexican origin.

Guillermo Perales, the franchisee, expressed his disappointment at the exchange through the intermediary of his lawyer.

"My client is very disappointed that customers are making racist and insensitive attacks on the people who work there and who have been trained to serve clients," said his lawyer, Robert Zarco.

Perales is the founder of Sun Holdings, Inc., which operates 293 Burger King sites and other franchises in different states, according to the company's website.

In the video, Castillo asks the women to leave the restaurant and threatens to call the police when they refuse.

"We have never been informed of this incident," said the Eustis Police Department. "No officer answered."

Borrero said that she had posted the video about five minutes on Facebook to expose the situation.

"Hatred plus hatred does not make it better," she said.