The Last Supper... in one of Spain's 100 Montaditos restaurants

It didn’t take place in a house in Jerusalem, but in the 100 Montaditos restaurant in Malaga’s Calle Pacífico. Nor were there 12 apostles, just members of the Barrientos family who had beer and ‘montaditos’ (bread rolls with different fillings) instead of bread and wine. However, despite these minor changes to the details, the Last Supper, one of the most important scenes in the Bible, was recreated in very traditional Malaga style this week. What began as a joke among friends ended up going viral on social media.

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Marcos Barrientos, who played the part of St John, said it hadn't been planned. Several siblings and cousins were all together at the restaurant in the Huelin district, and it occurred to them that as the name of the restaurant was 100 Montaditos it would be fun to order all 100 on the menu. Then someone came up with the idea of recreating the biblical scene. “It might have had something to do with the couple of beers we had had, or maybe because of the atmosphere in the city at Easter is very religious,” says Marcos, blushing slightly.

What the Barrientos family couldn't have imagined is that the photo would go viral on social media, via tweets and WhatsApp messages. “We really didn’t expect that; it all got a bit out of control,” says Marcos, who has a degree in Fine Arts and teaches art at the Sagrado Corazón school in Carranque.

He says it was all completely improvised and the preparation for the photo only took as long as it took the restaurant to prepare their food. They all stayed in the same place at the table except Jesus, who was Marcos’ brother, Juan, who had just arrived from the Canary Islands. “We decided he should be Jesus because he had come such a long way,” he says.

Marcos also says he wants to publicly thank the waiters and cooks at the restaurant for their professionalism and eagerness to please while they were there. He explains that it was nearly 10.30pm and they were about to close, but they still threw themselves into the plan. “They also gave us a free drink,” he says. The final Bill was 132.50 euros. Not bad, really, for the Last Supper.