This seat taken? Thieves busted for stealing over 1,000 restaurant chairs in Spain

This seat taken? Thieves busted for stealing over 1,000 restaurant chairs in Spain
Customers sit at a terrace bar in Girona, Spain, on May 18, 2020. (AP/File)
Short Url
Updated 22 October 2025
Follow

This seat taken? Thieves busted for stealing over 1,000 restaurant chairs in Spain

This seat taken? Thieves busted for stealing over 1,000 restaurant chairs in Spain
  • The estimated impact of the stolen property was around 60,000 euros ($69,000)

MADRID: Spanish police have busted a criminal group dedicated to stealing your seat. Literally.
Spain’s National Police said Wednesday that they had arrested seven people suspected of stealing more than 1,100 chairs from outdoor seating areas at restaurants and bars in Madrid and another nearby municipality in just two months.
The group of six men and a woman worked at night to pilfer the chairs from 18 different establishments in Madrid and Talavera de la Reina, a smaller city to the southwest of the capital, in August and September. The estimated impact of the stolen property was around 60,000 euros ($69,000), according to police.
The suspects, who face charges of theft and belonging to a criminal organization, resold the chairs in Spain but also in Morocco and Romania, police said.
In Spain, many restaurants and bars leave tables and chairs, which are usually made of metal or hard plastic, outdoors during the night. The chairs will normally be kept in stacks and chained down.


Jonathan Bailey named People magazine’s 2025 Sexiest Man Alive

Jonathan Bailey named People magazine’s 2025 Sexiest Man Alive
Updated 05 November 2025
Follow

Jonathan Bailey named People magazine’s 2025 Sexiest Man Alive

Jonathan Bailey named People magazine’s 2025 Sexiest Man Alive
  • Bailey takes the mantle from “The Office” star John Krasinski, who was the 2024 selection
  • The 37-year-old had audiences swooning as Prince Fiyero in his 2024 big-screen debut in “Wicked,” the popular movie musical

Something has changed for “Wicked” star Jonathan Bailey, something is not the same — he is People magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive for 2025.
The magazine’s pick was announced Monday night on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.” Bailey takes the mantle from “The Office” and “Jack Ryan” star John Krasinski, who was the 2024 selection.
“It’s a huge honor,” Bailey, 37, told the magazine. “Obviously, I’m incredibly flattered. And it’s completely absurd.”
Bailey had audiences swooning as Prince Fiyero in his 2024 big-screen debut in “Wicked,” the popular movie musical in which he proudly urges fellow students to join him in his shallowness. The second half arrives in theaters Nov. 21.
He dripped with charm as Lord Anthony Bridgerton on Netflix’s “Bridgerton,” and earned a 2024 Emmy nomination for his role in the Showtime series “Fellow Travelers.” Most recently, he starred in “Jurassic World Rebirth,” which came out in July.
Bailey told Fallon that the title was an “honor of a lifetime.”
“I’m sort of thrilled that People magazine have invited someone in – bestowed this honor on someone who can really cherish the value of a sexy man,” he said.
Bailey told People that he’s known he wanted to be an actor since he was 5 years old and his grandmother took him to see a production of the musical “Oliver!” Within two years he had achieved that dream, preforming with the Royal Shakespeare Company.
The first Sexiest Man Alive was Mel Gibson in 1985. Other past recipients include Brad Pitt, George Clooney, John F. Kennedy Jr., David Beckham, Michael B. Jordan, John Legend, Dwayne Johnson, Paul Rudd, Pierce Brosnan and Patrick Dempsey.
Bailey, who will be the cover story in People’s edition coming out Friday, had to stay tight-lipped about the news. But he admitted to the magazine that he couldn’t keep it a complete secret — he shared to news with his dog Benson, who will also be featured in the magazine.