Social media

An 'assault' in Murcia captured by a street view camera goes viral on Google Maps

This amusing scene, which took place in the Espinardo neighbourhood, joins other iconic images from the service, such as the Norwegian divers and the Japanese pigeon-men

Two workers staged the scene for the Street View cameras. (Google Maps)

Iván Rosique

Murcia

21/08/2026 Actualizado a las 12:05h.

The iconic Google Street View car, which travels the world with its 360-degree camera mounted on the roof like a periscope, has once again ... captured a memorable image that has been going viral over the last few days.

The image, taken last October in the Espinardo neighbourhood of Murcia but published in 2026 on the Google Maps database, shows a person lying on the ground while a second man holds his leg aloft, apparently about to stamp on his genitals.

- Granada's 'little bum' tree gets five-star rating on Google Maps
Rebeca Alcántara

The vehicle’s far from discreet presence as it passes through the streets has traditionally been an invitation for the more mischievous members of the public to strike a pose and stage a ‘performance’. And that is apparently what these two people did - seemingly workers who were carrying out some sort of electrical repair or installation when they realised that the ‘eyes’ of Google Maps were about to fall upon them.

The amusing staged ‘attack’ captured for posterity and now accessible worldwide, has gone viral across social media and instant messaging apps, joining other legendary pranks immortalised on the service, such as the divers armed with harpoons who set off in pursuit of the Google Street View car in Norway, the group of Japanese students who posed wearing curious pigeon masks, and the fake incident of a girl being hit by a car in the UK.