Man gets told Seville café ran out of mayonnaise after ordering a sandwich. Minutes later, he sets the place on fire
He must have really wanted that mayonnaise.
50-year-old José Rafael G. M. set a café in Seville, Spain, on fire after he was told by staff that they couldn’t give him mayonnaise to go with his sandwich after running out of the condiment. A year after the arson, José Rafael has accepted a three-and-a-half-year prison sentence.
On Aug. 20, 2025, José Rafael visited the Las Postas café in Los Palacios y Villafranca to order a pork loin and cheese sandwich. When staff told him they didn’t have mayonnaise, José Rafael was said to have left the café with no issues. However, he reportedly went to a nearby gas station along Avenida de Cádiz, where he purchased a “plastic bottle full of gasoline,” the Diario de Sevilla reported.
José Rafael later returned to the café and poured gasoline across the counter before intentionally setting it on fire. The fire resulted in two staff members suffering minor injuries and significant damage to the property. Bystanders quickly detained José Rafael and helped contain the fire from spreading further as they waited for first responders.
Man pleads guilty to starting fire in Seville café
The café’s owner, José Antonio Caballero, told local media that the incident was “something surreal,” according to Need To Know. “He asked for mayonnaise, and the waiter told him no, because we don’t have any,” he added. “We’re a bar that mainly serves breakfast. In the afternoon, we have drinks, coffees, and the odd sandwich in case someone gets hungry, not much else. […] There’s no explanation. It was awful.”
On Wednesday, Oct. 21, José Rafael, who is from Priego de Córdoba and was in Seville for a construction project, appeared before the Seville Provincial Court for his trial, where he admitted to committing arson at the café. The prosecution initially sought an 11-year prison sentence and a 15-year ban from coming within 500 meters of Las Postas, but José Rafael requested that it be reduced to three and a half years in prison and a 10-year ban instead.
The prosecution took into account José Rafael’s guilty plea and his payment of €9,245 (about $10,200) in restitution to the café, which resulted in a reduced classification of the arson. Since José Rafael had already spent the past year in pre-trial detention, he would have over two years left to serve in prison.
Caballero, however, sought an additional €1,386 (about $1,400) in compensation, which José Rafael was given two years to pay. The prosecution also charged José Rafael with two counts of minor assault for the two staff members’ injuries, requiring him to pay the employees €180 (about $200) each.
With the conclusion of José Rafael’s trial, the 50-year-old now awaits his sentencing hearing. This isn’t the first time a property has been set on fire, but in a surprising turn of events, the popular mayonnaise brand Hellmann’s announced that it would help cover the café’s costs of repairing the damage caused by the blaze.
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