This is how Catalan museums protect themselves from art thieves.
The theft of the Sijena peacekeeper and six Miró paintings are the two most representative thefts in recent history.
BarcelonaIt was May 1991, and the National Palace, located at the foot of Montjuïc, was being remodeled to become the permanent home of the National Art Museum of Catalonia (MNAC). It was a time of transition and chaos. In a storage room, there was a metal cabinet containing a jewel: the Sijena peace-bearer, a unique piece of Gothic goldsmithing dating back to 1400. It was a small piece, about ten centimeters, made of precious materials, which, without anyone noticing, disappeared.
The museum learned this when doing a routine count of the pieces in the storage room. No one had forced any door, not even that of the metal cabinet, nor had any alarm sounded, but the peace-bearer was no longer there. More than thirty years have passed, and its location remains a mystery. Many workers have testified, and many investigators, first from the Spanish National Police, then from the Mossos d'Esquadra, have searched for it. But it has not been found. Even now, as ARA has been able to verify, it remains on Interpol's list of most wanted stolen works of art.
At the top of this Interpol list are the eight stolen jewels A week ago at the Louvre Museum in ParisAn event that has shaken France, but has also put museums around the world and their security systems on alert. "The best security measure we have is never to talk about what security measures we have," sources at the Prado Museum in Madrid simply say. Since the theft of the Sijena peacekeeper, the MNAC has improved its security. The control room, according to sources at the institution, is the central element of the security system. There are staff there 24 hours a day, and from there, the cameras are monitored and alarms are managed. There are almost 500 cameras throughout the museum. "The security systems address all the risks analyzed and are installed throughout the building," the same sources state.
All windows have locking protection systems, the security doors are reinforced, as are the glass panes. There's a vault, and everything entering through both entrances to the building is scanned. And everything is covered with sensors: noise sensors, glass breakage sensors, door, window, and display case opening sensors, and even light sensors. There's a marked perimeter of cameras, both inside and out, and sensors that trigger alarms.
Six stolen Miró paintings
However, in the early hours of April 5, 1988, the alarms didn't go off when thieves broke a large, unreinforced window that provided access to the Joan Miró Foundation, a few meters above the MNAC. Due to renovations, the alarm wasn't connected to police headquarters. The security guard, who wasn't armed, only called to scare the thieves and called the police when it was too late: six Miró works had already been stolen. But these works can still be seen today because a month later the National Police recovered them, hidden in two basements, and arrested eight people for the theft.
A month after these arrests, the Museu Picasso, in the center of Barcelona, had a scare: three intruders robbed the museum's souvenir shop at gunpoint. However, they didn't steal any of the painter's works, only the shop's cash register. This incident did call into question the museum's security. The Museu Picasso is also cautious when it comes to sharing its security measures. "We work to protect the integrity of people and the conservation and security of the collections," they say. To this end, they assure that they have active surveillance measures as well as various protocols to deal with incidents. This protocol, they add, is reviewed and updated periodically.
"During the development of all phases of an exhibition, solid security protocols are followed, reflected in the facility reports of the CaixaForum centers and agreed upon with all the actors involved," notes the CaixaForum team, along the same lines. In their case, where they do not exhibit a permanent collection but rather opt for several temporary ones, the transport of art is very important. There are specialized companies and the works travel protected with an escort. And they rarely stop. (MACBA) is also cautious when it comes to explaining how they protect themselves from theft, precisely for "security reasons." They do assure, however, that they have intensive care 24 hours a day with different methods.