One of Spain’s most important archaeological collections has been plundered in a meticulously planned four-minute raid on Villena’s two-year-old museum — a building that reportedly had no overnight security guards.
Between four and six thieves broke into the Villena Museum, known as Muvi, at around 5.20am on Thursday before escaping in two vehicles with much of the world-famous Villena Treasure.
The stolen pieces have been valued at approximately €1.7 million, but their true historical importance makes them irreplaceable.
The raiders are believed to have entered from Calle Madrid after ripping out a window. Once inside, they moved with extraordinary speed, seizing numerous prehistoric gold artefacts and several religious crowns before fleeing at around 5.24am.
Despite housing one of Europe’s most significant collections of Bronze Age goldwork, the museum — which opened only two years ago — does not have permanent overnight security personnel. It is protected by alarms and video surveillance cameras, all of which were reportedly activated during the break-in.
Investigators suspect the thieves may have deliberately triggered an alarm at Villena’s municipal sports centre, on the opposite side of the city, to distract the authorities. That alarm sounded at approximately 5.16am, just minutes before the museum was targeted.
Mayor Fulgencio Cerdán was visibly shaken as he confirmed that a large part of the treasure had been stolen.
“We are absolutely devastated. This is heartbreaking for Villena,” he said. “It is part of our heritage and our wealth, something of which we are enormously proud.”
In their haste, the thieves left behind three silver vessels, a bracelet and several decorative objects. They also entered the section displaying the crowns of the Virgin of Las Virtudes.
Four crowns had been exhibited — two belonging to the Virgin and two to the Child — but only one of the Child’s crowns remained after the raid. According to the mayor, it appeared to have fallen as the thieves rushed from the building.
An earring and another archaeological hoard were not taken.
The Civil Guard’s Judicial Police Unit has launched a major investigation, supported by footage from the museum’s surveillance system. The building remained sealed off as forensic officers examined the scene.
Deputy Government Delegate Manuel Pineda described the theft as a tragedy extending far beyond Villena.
“This is a sad day,” he said, adding that the damage affected Alicante province and Spain, with repercussions at an “international level”. He stressed that the overriding objective was to locate and recover the stolen pieces.
The Villena Treasure dates from around 1000 BC and was discovered by archaeologist José María Soler and his team in December 1963. The objects had been concealed inside a vessel buried in a dry riverbed near Villena.
The complete collection included 11 gold bowls, 28 bracelets, three gold bottles, three silver bottles and several other precious objects. Archaeologists regard it as one of the finest surviving examples of prehistoric metalwork, comparable in importance to the gold collections discovered in the royal tombs of Mycenae in Greece.
The devastating raid has also come just days before Villena’s Moors and Christians Festival, held from September 4 to 9.
For residents gathering behind police cordons outside the museum, the loss cannot simply be calculated in euros. In four minutes, thieves stole thousands of years of history — from a modern museum entrusted with protecting it, but left without a guard overnight.
