Visitors to a Spanish government website on the European Union were greeted for a time by the comic character Mr Bean.

A hacker had placed a smiling picture of Mr Bean on the site’s home page, which provides information on the Spanish presidency of the EU. Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero is said to look like the character played by British actor Rowan Atkinson. Spanish comedians have been cracking jokes about the similarity for years.

The hacker’s joke did not survive long. Rumours of the stunt travelled rapidly across the internet, and the EU site was swamped. The webmaster then removed the picture.
 

Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero  (flickr / La Ignorancia Mata)
Mr Bean's creator, Rowan Atkinson  (Wikipedia)