Thief steals bag during live TV broadcast on beach in Barcelona, Spain

A thief was tracked down by police after he stole the bag of a Barcelona beach-goer in the background of a live TV news broadcast. Photo / @Politea_ESP / RTVE

A thief was tracked down by police after he stole the bag of a Barcelona beach-goer in the background of a live TV news broadcast.

Police said they had been able to identify the culprit after reviewing footage shot by a team from Spain's TVE state broadcaster, which unwittingly recorded the theft whilst filming an interview with a tourist.

As the tourist explains on camera why he loves Barcelona for its "beautiful beach and clean, cold water", the thief can be seen snatching an unattended bag from the sand and making off with it, seemingly oblivious of the presence of the TV crew.

Almost immediately, in the same sequence, the owner of the missing bag enters the shot, realises his bag has vanished and desperately begins searching for it.

The Guàrdia Urbana later announced that they had been able to return some of the stolen possessions to their owner and acknowledged the happy accident of the crime being aired on live TV.

Barcelona has become street crime hotspot

"Thanks to a video published [...] on social media and the victim's complaint, today we identified and charged the perpetrator of a theft on Sant Miquel beach," Barcelona's Guàrdia Urbana police force said on Sunday.

Barcelona has gained a reputation as a hotspot for street crime in recent decades.

According to police figures, 34,000 thefts were reported in Barcelona between January and the end of May, around 225 per day. During the same period, an average of 27 instances of violent theft such as mugging were also recorded in the city, both figures well up on the past two years but in line with 2019, before the pandemic and a steep drop in tourist numbers.

Police said they had made just over 900 arrests in connection with thefts in Barcelona in the first five months of the year.

One of the main focuses of street crime in Barcelona this year has been watch thefts, prompting Catalonia's regional police force to create a special unit in a bid to control gangs of so-called "relojeros".