Some crafty brown bears in northern Spain have been rumbled for pulling a fast one on their rivals. Scientists have filmed the animals deliberately leaving marks higher up trees so they seem bigger and more intimidating than they really are.

Researchers from the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (MNCN-CSIC) spent four years watching 164 brown bears in the Cantabrian mountains. They collected a massive 117,000 hours of camera-trap footage across 14 popular marking spots between 2021 and 2024. Results, published in the Journal of Mammalogy, show seven of those bears, roughly one in twenty, worked out how to cheat the system.

Bears normally leave scratch marks and scent signals at the highest point they can reach while standing on their back legs, around two metres off the ground. That height usually gives a fair idea of an animal’s real size and strength. However, a handful of crafty males decided that wasn’t enough. They climbed trees or used natural platforms to push their marks higher, sometimes as far as three metres up. One broken branch found right under an especially high mark gave the game away, clear proof the bear had scrambled up to leave it.

First time this cunning has been filmed in bears

Lead researcher Vincenzo Penteriani from the MNCN said the discovery was a real eye-opener. “Although this is exceptional behaviour, it is the first time it has been documented in bears, which shows their communication is more complex than we thought.”

To test the idea properly, the team fixed wooden platforms next to the usual marking trees and posts. Sure enough, some bears hopped onto them to leave their calling cards higher than nature intended. Scientists believe the tactic could help younger or less dominant males put off bigger rivals without a proper fight. It might even improve their chances with the females during the mating season.

Penteriani summed it up neatly: the bears’ communication sits in a constant balancing act, not completely honest, not completely dishonest, but always shifting between the ones sending the signals and the ones reading them. For a species once thought to stick to straight-up messages about size and power, these Cantabrian brown bears have shown they can be a bit more slippery than anyone expected. It’s so far unclear if Spanish bear cubs boast to their friends that their dad’s bigger.

Breakfast time took a wild turn at a roadside café in northern Catalonia when a hefty young bull decided to pop in for a look around and maybe some toast with tomato on it.

Nearly ten o’clock on Monday morning, the animal had been moving with its herd along the main road past Bar Gusi in Ribes de Freser, Girona. Local farms regularly move cattle this way to reach fresh pasture, and the beasts have right of way on that stretch. Owner David Torrecillas says the animals pass often and “in 30 years nothing like this had ever happened.”

This time one bull lagged behind. “He drifted away from the herd and got left behind,” David explains. Standing out on the terrace, he spotted the creature heading straight for the door. “I saw it coming towards us but never thought it would actually go inside the café. I reckoned it would turn round and head up the road. I never would have imagined it. It kept getting closer and closer until it walked right into the bar. When I saw it, I thought, Is this really happening?

CCTV cameras captured the whole thing. About twenty people, including locals and holidaymakers, stared gasping as the bull, estimated at “at least 500 kilos” by one staff member, pushed past the tables. “Seeing one go past on the road is one thing, but watching a bull walk into the bar is something else,” a waitress said. “Luckily it left the same way it came in. We were all shocked. It wasn’t a dog. It was a proper big animal.”

The herd’s shepherd dashed in straight away but arrived too late to stop the entry. He stayed by the main door to shield customers and asked a waiter to head round the back in case the bull turned.

Waiter’s cool head saves the day

Inside the dining area, an elderly couple, regulars about to sit down for breakfast, suddenly found themselves face-to-face with the unexpected visitor. At that moment, waiter Samuel stepped forward exactly as the shepherd had suggested.

“The waiter stood in front of the bull without any sudden movements,” David recalls. “Then it turned towards the exit and walked out without causing any damage to people or property. I rang him afterwards to congratulate him and say thanks. He handled it so calmly and naturally. I believe his family used to keep livestock, so he wasn’t scared. He kept his cool and moved slowly so he didn’t startle it, letting it turn round and leave.”

Samuel later posted the CCTV clips online with a light-hearted note: “Today we had a very special visit at Bar Gusi. Seems he heard the food is fantastic here. He hadn’t booked, but with a customer that size we weren’t going to turn him away! Official note: No customers or staff were hurt in this adventure.”

The entire visit lasted just 20 seconds. The bull spun round, knocked a few tables over, exited through the front door and rejoined the herd with the shepherd following.

Locals who saw the footage couldn’t resist a chuckle. One wrote: “What authentic customers you’ve got, David!” Another joked: “He’s bringing the goods for the burgers!!!” A third admitted, “It made me laugh!!! I don’t know what I would have done.” And a final comment summed it up: “The bull – luckily everything went well.”

Most footballers dream of lifting the World Cup, celebrating with millions of adoring fans and adding another glittering medal to the trophy cabinet. Few, however, probably imagine the next stop on their victory tour involves receiving their own bodyweight in tomatoes.

But in southern Spain, that’s exactly what happened.

Fresh from helping Spain become world champions for the second time, midfield stars Fabián Ruiz and Gavi returned to their hometown of Los Palacios y Villafranca, in Seville province, where they were greeted not with champagne, luxury watches or the keys to the city, but with mountains of freshly harvested tomatoes.

Thankfully, they were for taking home rather than throwing.

The unusual welcome left fans smiling and proved that, in Spain at least, some of the most treasured traditions have nothing to do with glitz or glamour and everything to do with local pride.

A tradition rooted in local pride

Los Palacios y Villafranca is renowned across Spain for producing some of the country’s finest tomatoes, with its fertile farmland supplying markets and restaurants nationwide. So when one of the town’s own achieves sporting greatness, there’s only one fitting reward.

Every player who returns home as a major international champion receives tomatoes equal to their bodyweight.

The tradition has become one of Spain’s most charming and distinctive sporting celebrations, blending football fever with the agricultural heritage that has shaped the town for generations.

Following Spain’s World Cup triumph, Fabián Ruiz stepped onto the scales before delighted locals and was presented with around 84 kilograms of tomatoes. Fellow midfielder Gavi followed, collecting approximately 68 kilograms after receiving the same warm hometown welcome.

The ceremony drew applause, laughter and plenty of photographs as residents celebrated not only the players’ achievements but also a tradition that has become a source of enormous civic pride.

Honouring local heroes

The tomato ceremony dates back to Spain’s first men’s World Cup victory in 2010, when local favourite Jesús Navas returned home after helping La Roja conquer the world in South Africa.

Since then, every major international success involving one of the town’s footballers has been marked in the same unmistakable way.

This year, the celebrations extended well beyond the produce.

Local authorities announced plans for a monument honouring Ruiz, Gavi and Navas, recognising the extraordinary contribution all three have made to Spanish football while inspiring young people growing up in the town.

Two local football grounds where Ruiz and Gavi first developed their talent have also been renamed in their honour, ensuring future generations will train on pitches bearing the names of players who once dreamed exactly where they now stand.

It’s a powerful reminder that even global sporting superstars all started somewhere, and that hometowns never forget their own.

Spain celebrates another historic triumph

Spain’s 1-0 victory over Argentina in the 2026 FIFA World Cup final secured the country’s second men’s world title, 16 years after Andrés Iniesta’s famous winning goal against the Netherlands in Johannesburg.

The victory sparked huge celebrations across Spain, with an estimated 1.8 million supporters lining the streets of Madrid to welcome the champions home during an open-top bus parade through the capital.

But while the national celebrations showcased Spain’s footballing success on a grand scale, it was the quieter homecoming in Los Palacios y Villafranca that captured hearts for a very different reason.

There were no extravagant gifts or lavish ceremonies. Instead, neighbours, friends and families came together to celebrate two local boys who had reached the pinnacle of world football without forgetting their (tomatoe) roots.

And while World Cup medals, trophies and winner’s bonuses will undoubtedly take pride of place in Ruiz and Gavi’s homes, only in this corner of Spain does sporting glory also come with enough tomatoes to keep the gazpacho flowing all summer.