An alleged thief was filmed stealing on a Barcelona beach - as a holidaymaker interviewed on Spanish TV raves about the city’s great food and beautiful weather.
The man appeared in the background of a news interview as a tourist told a reporter “I love Barcelona ”.
The interview continued uninterrupted as the figure bent down to pick up a rucksack, which had been left unattended under a pair of trousers and walked away.
As he did the interview subject says: “The beach is very beautiful, the water is clean and cold.”
Seconds later the bewildered owner of the rucksack comes into shot and shouts: “Someone’s stolen my stuff, did anyone see him?”
He comes close to bumping into the camera crew as he walks around yelling: “My bag” as a bikini-clad woman carrying a paddle board looked on.
The man being interviewed seems oblivious to the chaos going on behind him, telling the reporter “What I love as well is the food" before patting his stomach and continuing "My belly!!”
The footage, broadcast on Spanish state-owned channel TVE and filmed at the popular Barcelona city beach Sant Miquel, went viral on Monday.
Police revealed they had tracked down and identified the suspect.
A spokesman for the Guardia Urbana city police said: “Thanks to a video published on social networks and the victim’s police report, we have identified and reported the perpetrator of a theft on Sant Miquel beach.
“The thief is seen in the footage taking advantage of the owner’s absence to steal a bag that has been left momentarily and flee the scene.”
One social media user wrote alongside a copy of the video: “This is when TV can’t get any better. They interview a man to ask him what he likes best about Barcelona while a thief steals a bag behind him."
In April another TVE live broadcast went viral after two women holidaymakers started their Easter break in style by gatecrashing national TV with a giant inflatable phallus.
The pair inadvertently invaded a flagship lunchtime news bulletin seen by millions of people every day with the bright pink inflatable.
Veteran reporter Lluis Mestres was in the middle of a live broadcast about the large numbers of international flights in and out of busy Palma Airport when the two women walked by.
One had her left arm wrapped tightly round the inflatable which was only partly covered by her coat and left nothing to the imagination.
The hilarious moment was caught on Telediario 1, the afternoon 3pm edition of the Telediario news bulletin on Spanish state-owned channel TVE.
The flagship newscast, one of three Telediario editions a day, is the longest-running programme in the history of television in Spain as it has been broadcast daily since September 15 1957 when dictator Francisco Franco was still in power.
Each of the three average around 2.6 million viewers.
