What Happened to the Robbers in the 1981 Spanish Bank Robbery in Real Life?

of Netflix Spanish ‘Bank Under Siege’ TV series, Surprising events that emerged at the Central Bank of Barcelona After a group of robbers break into the financial institution. The group is holding approximately three hundred people hostage in the building while they wait for the four men to be released. political prisoners Aspect crime drama As the series progresses, it becomes clear that the gang’s demand is nothing more than a ploy to distract the authorities while they blow a hole in the bank to escape. barcelona‘s sewage system. In reality, the robbers’ attempts to escape with nearly seven hundred million pesetas ran into obstacles they could not actually overcome! SPOILERS AHEAD.

José Juan Martínez Gómez and His Gang Failed to Make a Hole in the Granite Wall of the Central Bank

There are various accounts regarding this. reasons and action plan of robbers. Officials concluded: robbery The leader of the thieves, José Juan Martínez Gómez, claimed that the head of CESID, Emilio Alonso Manglano, was the mastermind behind the crime targeting the money stored in the Central Bank of Barcelona. bank’s failed coup attempt in 1981. In line with this unconfirmed or alleged plan, Manglano promised José a plane to escape the country after the robbery. However, according to the leader of the robbers, he became suspicious of this arrangement, which led him to come up with another plan to escape from the bank.

José and his accomplices began to blow a hole in one of the walls of the Central Bank. According to reports, they even asked for help from a few of the hostages. The robbers hoped to escape the establishment using Barcelona’s sewer system, but they encountered granite boulders beyond the wall. This shocking revelation convinced the gang that there was no way to escape the bank. In recent years, José claimed that the entire operation was a trap set by Manglano and his allies. In an interview with Barcelona-based radio station RAC1, he claimed that the real masterminds behind the robbery wanted the robbers dead because they wanted to eliminate all witnesses involved.

The Robbery Ended with the Intervention of Special Operations Forces

While José Juan Martínez Gómez and his accomplices realized that there was no way to escape from the Central Bank, police Tactical unit Grupo Especial de Operaciones (GEO) arrived on scene to intervene. The robbery had been going on for more than thirty hours with negotiations with the authorities. The leader of the robbers even later claimed that he met with the head of government Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo during this period. Over the years, numerous accounts have emerged regarding the later hours of the robbery that were not covered by ‘Bank Under Siege’.

One of these stories is about how José and other robbers brought five hundred million pesetas from the vault into the main courtyard, threatening to burn them. The situation escalated further the next day, May 24, when one of the police officers killed a robber who was seen with the hostage on the terrace of the Central Bank. The death of thirty-four-year-old José María Cuevas Jiménez was followed by a gunfight that lasted more than two hours. Meanwhile, the hostages broke the main door of the business to escape from the robbers. Interestingly, the gang of criminals joined these hostages, pretending to be part of them.

The police then arrested nine robbers, including José, marking the end of the robbery. Although the end of the situation was a victory for the authorities, one of the robbers managed to flee the scene. Over the years GEO reportedly claimed that its agents had evacuated the robbers from the bank; José disputed this claim. In the same interview with RAC1, he claimed that criminals, including himself, ran out of the institution for fear of death. According to their accounts, GEO entered the bank after leaving the building with his accomplices.

Arrested Robbers Convicted and Sentenced to Prison

After the robbers were caught, authorities tried to find out the reason behind the robbery. José Juan Martínez Gómez initially claimed that a far-right individual named Antonio Luis had given him the task of robbing the Central Bank. He eventually changed his account to state that the robbery was financially motivated. Luis’ involvement has not been proven. Ultimately, the authorities and institutions involved agreed that the robbery was carried out with the aim of looting money from the bank’s safe. The arrested robbers were tried in the Third Criminal Chamber of the National Court.

In June 1983, José, Tomás Paz Trenado, Miguel Millán Gros and Alberto Ots Jiménez were sentenced to thirty-eight years in prison. prison For the crime of committing robbery under aggravating circumstances by using disguise, using violence and intimidating people. Other charges include mass crimes such as unlawful detention and illegal possession of firearms. Cristóbal and Jorge Valenzuela Marcos, Juan Manuel Quesada Jihaja, and Francisco Martín were sentenced to multiple prison terms ranging from one to twenty-three years. Although these were long sentences, the maximum prison term under Article 70 of the Spanish Penal Code was thirty years. Details regarding Máximo Olivar Tirado’s penalties are not available.

After the respective convictions, the robbers disappeared from sight except José. He received special permission to leave prison temporarily in 1988 and 1996. In both cases, he evaded authorities after his parole expired without returning to the relevant prison. He was arrested and imprisoned again during these two years. His term ended completely in January 2016. While José remains a notorious figure in Spain for his allegations against Emilio Alonso Manglano, the fate of his accomplices remains a mystery. It’s unclear how many of them are even alive today to learn that the crime they committed remains a highly controversial part of Spanish political discourse.

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