The Treasure of Villena, one of the most valuable sets from the Bronze Age in Europe and which houses the Muvi, the museum of the town of Alto Vinalopó in the province of Alicante, was stolen during the early hours by three hooded men, an incident that the Civil Guard and the Judicial Police are already investigating.
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The assault on the museum headquarters, which was moved and inaugurated in May 2024 at the town’s former electro-flour factory, occurred around five in the morning on Thursday, the only day of the week when the collections cannot be visited in the mornings, something the investigation suspects the thieves took advantage of. It lasted barely four minutes.
“At 5:23 a.m., a notification was received at the Alicante Command from the museum’s security company alerting that the alarm had gone off,” explained the Government’s deputy delegate in Alicante, Manuel Pineda. The assailants, who took almost the entire treasure in several vehicles, were professionals.
That may be the reason why the alarm at the municipal sports center, at the other end of the town, also sounded at 5:16 a.m. Investigators believe it could have been a distraction based on the timeline of events: 5:16 the sports center alarm sounds, 5:20 the museum alarm, the notification to the Command arrives at 5:23, and the thieves left at 5:24 a.m.
The center, which consists of two rooms, did not have permanent security personnel, but rather a system of video cameras that is now being studied by the Judicial Police of the Civil Guard because they recorded the entire assault. The thieves would have accessed the building through one of its sides, tearing off one of the windows.
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The ethnographic value of the Treasure of Villena is incalculable and is compared to the treasures of the royal tombs of Mycenae (Greece). It is a set of goldsmithing dated around 1000 BC mainly composed of gold pieces. Among others, it has 11 bowls, 28 bracelets, and three bottles; it also includes three silver bottles, two mixed pieces of amber and gold, another of iron and gold, and a final iron bracelet.
The archaeologist José María Soler and his collaborators discovered it in December 1963 inside a vessel hidden in the bed of a ravine in the municipality of Villena. Four years later, the Ministry of Culture sponsored the official creation of an archaeological museum located on the ground floor of the town hall. On May 17, 2024, it was moved to the new location, which became one of the town’s cultural hubs.
One and a half million euros
The mayor of Villena, Fulgencio Cerdán, appeared devastated to explain the theft. With a choked voice, he confirmed the theft of the pieces – all original, no replicas were on display – and confirmed that almost the entire collection was stolen. “There remain three silver vessels, a bracelet, and part of the decorations of the staff of the Little King who guarded the treasure”, he explained. The thieves also took two crowns of the Virgin and one of the Child. “Only one of the Child remains, which they must have dropped while fleeing,” he added.
However, intact is the so-called Tesorillo de Cabezo Redondo – 35 gold pieces, weighing 147 grams, and the Arracada de La Condomina, a circular gold earring decorated with openwork filigree considered an example of ancient Iberian goldsmithing. These are two valuable pieces but of lesser importance.
Regarding how the thieves operated and whether it is an expert art theft gang, the Civil Guard wants to be cautious and keeps all hypotheses open. In fact, even that only the value of the gold was sought, which due to the weight of the Treasure, could exceed one and a half million euros.
What seems clear to the investigation is that the thieves knew very well what they were looking for, gold pieces, judging by the selection of objects they made.
The mayor confirmed that the building has “all the security measures required by a museum” and that they have never displayed replicas. “We are devastated, even trembling. This destroys us in Villena because it is part of our heritage and our wealth,” he argued. The hope is that the pieces may appear on the black art market and be recovered.
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