They recover two works by Salvador Dalí that had been stolen in Catalonia

The information was released this Friday at a press conference by the police unit called “Los Mossos”, which indicated that the works could be recovered when the robbery suspects tried to sell them.

Because information circulates easily in the art market, one of the people who found out that two Dalís were looking for a new owner notified the Mossos, and that allowed the investigation to be directed at the thieves, it was explained at the press conference , according to the newspaper El País.

But that person who gave the alert was also seeking to obtain a reward for the information from the family affected by the robbery. “Their demands of him were far from what the police consider to be collaborating,” said sub-inspector Jonatan Herrera, head of the central heritage area of ​​the Catalan police.

The informant, who had extensive criminal records, was also arrested and investigated, which allowed the police to reach three brothers, of Venezuelan origin, aged 55, 53 and 50, as the perpetrators of the robbery.

Based on the information obtained, the Catalan police began to move to recover the works, so that they did not disappear on the black market. This is how they discovered a possible buyer in Portugal, with an intermediary who went to Zaragoza to test what was real in the offer, and some Chinese citizens residing in Catalonia who were interested in the drawings.

Three months later, still without clear clues as to where the drawings were, “the Mossos” arrested the suspects, because “they continued with the robberies and that could not be allowed,” said Sergeant José González, head of the historical heritage unit. .

Finally, the possibility of finding the works was given in one of the messages from the suspects’ phones, which contained the codes for opening and closing a door, and last August, covered with blankets, they found the two drawings intact, they were still framed. “It was the happiest day of the entire investigation,” said González.

Seven experts from the Dalí Foundation confirmed that they were the authentic works of a “more naïve Dalí, who captures popular festivals”, explained the director of the Dalí museums, Montse Aguer.

In the homes of the suspects they found luxury watches and five graphic works by Miró that have not yet passed an analysis to verify their authenticity. They also found gold and silver objects and four long firearms that had been stolen.

The suspects, who are free with charges, are related to seven other robberies at homes in Sarrià-Sant Gervasi, Sant Cugat del Vallès, Rubí and Premià de Mar.