A man has been arrested in Spain for allegedly setting fire to a café after staff refused to put mayonnaise on his sandwich.
The incident occurred on Wednesday evening in Los Palaciosy Villafranca, Sevilla province. Footage released by the café shows the man dousing the bar with petrol before igniting it, sending flames erupting and forcing customers, including young children and elderly patrons, to flee.
In the chaos, the suspect accidentally set his own left hand on fire and was seen trying to extinguish the flames with his right hand. Authorities said he had previously gone to a nearby petrol station after being refused mayonnaise twice, buying a litre and a half of petrol before returning to the café. The blaze caused an estimated €6,000 to €7,000 in damage.
Jose Antonio Caballero, owner of Las Postas Café-Bar, described the attack as “something surreal.” He told Spanish media:
‘First one waiter and then another the second time this gentleman asked for mayonnaise gave him the same answer which was that the bar didn’t have a kitchen and the sandwiches came ready-prepared and we didn’t have sauces.
‘At that moment he walked to the garage opposite, returned to the bar with a bottle in his hand which we discovered afterwards had petrol inside, and asked the first waiter: “Are you sure there’s no mayonnaise?” without giving him time to reply.’
No one was injured in the fire apart from the suspect. Police quickly arrived, arrested the 50-year-old man from neighbouring Cordoba province, and took him to a health centre for treatment of burns. He is now in custody with the Guardia Civil and is expected to appear in court later today, August 22.
