Madrid, Spain (Reuters): A Spanish man's desire for safe sex turned into an embarrassing ordeal when his hand got stuck in a condom vending machine for four hours.

After a long night on the town with his girlfriend, unidentified 23-year-old man put some coins into a condom machine outside a pharmacy on a popular beach in Cadiz, southern Spain. When nothing came out, the man pounded impatiently on the machine, then stuck his hand in the opening to try to pull the condom package out.

Two of his fingers became caught inside. For the next few hours he was the brunt of humiliating comments from passers-by while he and his girlfriend tried unsuccessfully to pry his hand loose, El Mundo newspaper reported Tuesday.

The couple finally called firemen, who had to detach the machine from the wall and bring it to the station - with the man's fingers still inside - before they were able to set him free sometime after dawn.