Their experience was filmed and shared on TikTok (Image: Oscar Wong via Getty Images)
A group of holidaymakers were left stunned after ordering paella at a Spanish restaurant, only to discover they’d made a costly mistake when the bill arrived.
The friends had expected to pay around €23 for their meal, but one detail on the menu had been interpreted very differently from how the restaurant intended.
Their experience was filmed and shared on TikTok, where it prompted a debate over whether the diners had been caught out by the pricing or simply misunderstood what they were ordering.
The video was captioned: “We thought a paella for three with a sea view would cost us 23 euros.”
Footage showed the group reacting to the bill with a mixture of laughter and disbelief. One pointed out that the total had reached “three figures”, while another appeared to refuse to accept the charge, saying: “I’m not paying,”, reports Wales Online.
The issue centred on the €23 price advertised for the paella (Image: Getty Images)
The issue centred on the €23 price advertised for the paella. The holidaymakers had understood this to be the price of the whole dish, but it was actually charged per person.
Their total therefore came to significantly more than the €23 they had expected to spend.
The friends appeared to laugh off the misunderstanding, with their post also carrying the Spanish caption “fallo no pensar que era por persona”, meaning “a mistake not to think it was per person”.
The clip quickly attracted comments, with many viewers arguing that the price was not unusual and that paella is commonly charged on a per-person basis.
One person wrote: “€23 per person isn’t much.”
Another questioned how the group could have expected a paella for three to cost just €23.
The clip quickly attracted comments (Image: Getty)
A third commenter asked: “So, you wanted to take up a table for 7 or 8 people and pay €23? While eating paella?!”
Others pointed out that per-person pricing is particularly common at restaurants in popular seaside destinations.
“€23 per person, my friend; I’ve seen it go up to €32 per person for a paella,” one viewer said.
Another shared a similar experience involving a lobster paella in A Coruña.
“That happened to me with a lobster paella in A Coruña. Honestly, I don’t get why they price it per person; they should just set the paella at €80 and be done with it.”
Some viewers also suggested the setting should be taken into account when judging the final price.
One person commented: “€145 for two paellas with a view, and you think that’s expensive? That blows my mind. Just go to McDonald’s; a meal there only costs €12.”