Police in the north of Spain are investigating reports that a gang of diners have eaten thousands of euros worth of food before making a run for it from two separate restaurants.
A group of 120 diners told the owner of El Carmen restaurant in Bembibre they were celebrating a baptism earlier this month and paid a €900 deposit before consuming more than €2,000 ($2,780) worth of starters, main courses and alcoholic drinks, the BBC reports.
Without warning, all of them danced in a conga line out of the restaurant, leaving without paying just as dessert was about to be served, The Local reports.
"It happened in the space of a minute," owner Antonio Rodriguez told the BBC. "It was something they had planned and they left in a stampede."
Rodriguez reported the incident to police but said he held out little hope of being repaid.
A second restaurant has since come forward claiming they have also been hit by the eat and run diners.
El Rincon de Pepin, which is just 10km from El Carmen, thought they were hosting a wedding party of 160 people, who paid a €1,000 ($1,390) deposit before consuming €10,000 ($13,901) worth of food and beverages.
"There were 160 of them and they all disappeared. Suddenly. Within five minutes," owner Laura Arias told the BBC. "That was the unusual thing.
"Usually people leave over time, and you expect someone to come to talk to you and say they will settle the bill the next morning or something. But they didn't say anything, they just disappeared."
Arias reported the incident to police, but feels sure she knows who is responsible, after finding photos of the occasion posted on Facebook, The Local reports.
The unusual crime story has caught the attention of people on social media.
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