Google’s Street View Car Didn’t Survive Spain’s La Tomatina Tomato-Throwing Festival

Google’s Street View car came under serious attack at La Tomatina tomato-throwing festival in Spain yesterday.

The web giant was forced to suspend its 360 degree filming of the event in Buñol, Valencia, after the crowd began pelting it with the rotten food.

The vehicle’s high tech cameras were knocked out in the impromptu ambush, according to El Pais.

The car was also dented, and its windscreen wipers and wing mirrors were destroyed as revellers climbed on top of the car.

One person also reportedly placed an Australian flag over its rear.

None of the Google employees who were manning the vehicle were injured. The exact cost of the damage is not yet known.

The car had already filmed the empty streets, before the 22,000 revellers who were due to battle each other with the tomatoes arrived in the town.

It was waiting to follow a cleaning lorry on a second run around the town, after the event had finished, when it came under attack, said Mayor Rafael Perez.

He labelled the incident as “vandalism.”

Google has launched an investigation into the incident.

“The loss of filming is secondary for us,” a spokesman told El Pais.

“We are sorry our intention to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Tomatina has been lost, because of the high spirits of a group of people,” he added.

Yesterday was the 70th anniversary of La Tomatina. Some 165,000kg of tomatoes were thrown.

Google had previously marked it with a Doodle video on its home page to celebrate the event.