Google has been mapping out cities all over the world through its Google Street View cars. The search-engine giant has indeed been able to record famous landmarks worldwide with its high-tech vehicles, but it seems that this time they have made a huge mistake.
The Google Street View vehicles, as well as their backpack camera versions have recently been capturing iconic scenes in Spain. These include the country's famous Moorish Fortress and The Alhambra.
According to The Inquisitr, they have even paved the way for online viewers to see Spain's dangerous "El Caminito del Rey" while inside the comfort of their own homes.
On Wednesday, the Google Street View Car decided it wanted to film the 70th Anniversary of the Tomatina Festival in Buñol, Valencia, Spain, the world's largest tomato festival where thousands gather to throw tomatoes at each other.
According to Sports Grid, the car had already gotten needed footage of empty streets hours prior to the festival, but apparently, someone in the company decided to capture the essence of the famous, albeit messy "La Tomatina" festival
This is what happened:
New #Google #Doodle celebrates 70th anniversary of #Spain's #LaTomatina festival https://t.co/PcL7Y26Mwe via @TIME
— Devil/Dervish (@ashindia) August 26, 2015
The results, while predictable, are still shocking. Not only was the Google Street View Car ended up plastered with tomatoes, it had been dented, its windows broken and its windshield wipers were also ripped away.
According to a Google spokesman, the Google driver thought that the worst of the famous festival was over and thought it could capture the aftermath of the huge tomato fight.
"The Street View team went to La Tomatina with the aim of collecting images after the tomato battle had finished," said the spokesman. "Unfortunately, there were still some people around when we arrived with the car, which ended up trapped in the crowd and suffered quite a bit of damage."
Onlookers were quick to upload images of the Google Street View Car on Twitter, showing some people atop the vehicle, which was no doubt equipped with expensive and state-of-the-art cameras. The cameras and the car ended up damaged during the onslaught.
La Tomatina festival: Revelers hurl tomatoes at the annual festival in Spain https://t.co/F6oKHk0lST pic.twitter.com/GYJrcYNldK — Firstpost (@firstpost) August 27, 2015
El coche Google maps street view destrozado en tomatina pic.twitter.com/TXwY44TLU5
— José Mª Casany (@JMCasany) August 26, 2015
Este es el coche de Google que pretendía grabar la experiencia de la #Tomatina2015. Pero la gente es así... pic.twitter.com/dAkWkvNAfN — Ainhoa (@noaanswers) August 26, 2015
According to Google, the incident remains under investigation. The spokesman added that they are relieved that nobody was hurt as well. However, it is unknown whether images captured by the Google Street View cameras will still be usable.
This year, the "La Tomatina" festival attracted around 22,000 people from up to 96 different countries around the world. The festival begins when a truckload of tomatoes are driven into town, while residents gather and start pelting the tomatoes at one another, covering their bodies and the streets with tomato juice.
Below is a video compilation of images from the "La Tomatina." However, photos of the Google Street View car's demise was not captured.
