Can’t get a seat at a restaurant? Maybe it got stolen: Criminal group busted for stealing more than 1,000 chairs

At the height of summer, it’s not unusual to be unable to find a free seat on an open-air terrace in Spain. But this summer, some restaurants in central Madrid found themselves without any seating options for their customers - not because demand was high, but because someone had stolen the chairs during the night.

Terrace-dining on hot summer nights

In Spain, going out, meeting friends or family for something to eat and drink after work is a vital part of the culture. But as most people finish work later than in other parts of Europe, nights out start later, around 9-10, and finish later, with most bars closing at 2 a.m.

In the summer, it’s too hot to be inside - the place to be is out in the open air on a terrace. Socializing al fresco grew in popularity after the indoor smoking ban was introduced in 2007 (it was suitably ignored in Spain until around 2010), and again during the Covid pandemic.

Understandably, it’s a pain for bar workers/owners to have to pack all the tables, chairs, parasols, portable humidifiers/heaters away after the last customers have left in the early hours of the morning - only to have to put them all out again for the start of a new day. And as it’s a high-trust society, terrace furniture usually just gets left outside, chained up - which makes sense to save time, and after all it’s not going to get wet in the rain, or stolen...

However, in Madrid and satellite town Talavera de la Reina this summer, many restaurant and bar owners turned up to work to find all of their chairs had vanished. Taking advantage of the relaxed attitude towards packing tables and chairs away, organized criminals swiped them in the dark of the night.

Criminals make off with outdoor seating

The gang worked predominately in the neighborhoods to the south of the capital and used the same modus operandi, cutting the chains protecting the chairs then loading their booty into a van. In just two months, over 1,100 chairs, with an economic value of around 60.000 euros ($63,500) had been stolen.

This week, Spanish police finally found and arrested the culprits - six men and one women. The suspects, who face charges of theft and belonging to a criminal organization, resold the chairs in Spain and further afield including Morocco and Romania.

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