Thefts in museum institutions are increasing. Take as an example the theft at the Villena Museum (MUVI), which occurred just a few days ago, where the assailants stole the set of gold, silver, iron, and amber pieces from the Bronze Age known as the Villena Treasure. Or the one that took place at the Albacete Museum at the end of July, where four hooded individuals broke a display case, took several coins, and after their escape, set a car on fire. In April, the theft involved 149 gold coins, part of the Villanueva Treasure, which the thieves took from the Badajoz Museum.
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That is why the Ministry of Culture, according to a statement released this Monday, has made itself available to the affected autonomous communities. “None of the three affected museums were directly managed by the ministry, so we do not have security responsibilities,” sources from Culture assure. The ministry (through the Directorate General of Cultural Heritage and Fine Arts) has expressed its concern to the National Police (specifically, the Historical Heritage Brigade) and has requested their cooperation to prevent more incidents of this type.
In turn, the police have requested information from the ministry and the ministry from the autonomous communities. The aim is to gain a deep understanding of the museum collections (both those dependent on the ministry and the autonomous communities), specifically objects made of gold, silver, other metals, or precious stones. “What we are seeing is that what matters to the thieves is not so much the historical, archaeological, or artistic value of the pieces but the material,” say ministry sources.
The ministry also points out that some communities have not provided the information, including the Valencian Community, which did not respond to the call on August 11 nor the one on the 24th. The theft in Villena, Alicante, happened on the 25th.
On August 28, the ministry convened a meeting with the autonomous communities to discuss museum security, which is the responsibility of each administration, and the National Police’s request for information. Another topic discussed was the report published by Europol, titled Change of tactics, change of targets: the changing nature of museum thefts, which was covered by some media such as EL PAÍS. “We are seeing that these thefts are part of a European trend,” sources indicate. The agency warned of increasingly aggressive incidents, less organized, and with a preference for easily transformable objects, such as gold and jewelry. This matches those recorded in Spain. These are not white-glove thefts.
In the coming days, the Ministry of Culture will convene a new meeting. Meanwhile, cultural heritage experts from the National Police (in the cases of the museums of Badajoz and Albacete) and the Civil Guard (in the case of the Villena Museum), as well as the autonomous police forces, continue their investigations into the incidents that occurred.
