Thefts or robberies in bars and restaurants in Spain, as we read in EL PAÍS, are apparently ‘the order of the day’ in Spain. One occurs every five minutes. The cacos (colloquial name for bad guys) usually seek quiet areas at the wee hours of the morning to perpetrate their misdeeds.
However, what happened to the owner of the Hotel Carmen, in the town of Bembibre, took this type of crime to a whole new level and left the hotel manager, Antonio Rodríguez stunned. We understand it was not just the owner left somewhat perplexed though, as nobody in the region could ‘remember having lived through anything similar’.
During a dinner banquet, last Monday, to celebrate the baptism of two children, a hundred diners who had booked the hotel restaurant decided to leave en masse, just as dessert was to be served without paying the 2,000 euro bill. A high volume of alcohol was included in the unpaid bill. According to Antonio Rodríguez, “the dinner developed normally until it was time to serve the dessert”. Rodríguez, said that all the diners “marched in stampede, as if they had agreed, adding “everyone disappeared when they were dancing and drinking”. Angel Blanco, lieutenant in charge of investigations said. “We are investigating to what extent these people deceived the owner of the establishment. There are indications that make us suspicious of a wide deception,” he said in a telephone conversation with EL PAÍS. It would be interesting to learn from the lieutenant what other lines of enquiry the investigation is taking, possibly mass temporary amnesia, or collective shared guilt from eating and drinking too much fuelling a need to exercise a lot instantly.