By Tim Binnall
A Spanish man who set fire to a cafe after it had run out of mayonnaise will be spending the next few years behind bars over the bizarre incident. José Rafael made worldwide headlines last September when he torched Seville's Cafeteria Las Postas in response to their inability to provide him with the condiment he coveted for his meal. While no one was injured in the blaze, the cafe was badly damaged by the fire and, seizing the opportunity for some clever marketing, the mayonnaise brand Hellmann's stepped forward to cover the costs for repairs. Rafael, on the other hand, had no such savior last week when he reportedly learned his fate over the deeply misguided 'critique' of the eatery's customer service.
Initially looking at a staggering 11-year prison sentence due to the dangerous nature of the crime, the arsonist managed to have his sentence reduced to three-and-a-half years after he admitted culpability in the case. Rafael was also ordered to pay the cafe approximately $10,000 for the damage that he caused. Whether that money, which ironically could have gone towards a practically endless supply of mayonnaise, will wind up in Hellmann's coffers is uncertain. Meanwhile, the court also instructed Rafael to stay away from the cafe for the next decade, lest he find himself in further trouble with the law. One imagines that the restriction will not be too much of a problem since the arsonist is almost assuredly banned from the eatery after the incident.