The surprise was capital. And sad. Mostly sad. A few days ago, when she went to the pantheon where her relatives are buried, a neighbor from Celanova (Galicia) found that the figure of crucified Christ that decorated the tomb was missing. The curious thing is that not only his was missing. Taking a look at the rest of the cemetery he found that the same thing was happening in five other tombs. In one, in fact, the Christ had been torn off and only preserved part of one arm, as if someone had burst it by using force with a lever.
The case would not have made it out of the local press if it were not for the fact that it was not the only cemetery in Ourense in which the neighbors found that image.
What has happened? That in the rural cemeteries of Galicia, more specifically in Ourense, dozens and dozens of Christs are disappearing.
It takes a look at the regional press to see that it is more than a simple anecdote: March 16 Faro de Vigo reported the disappearance of figures in two cemeteries in Celanova, days later The Voice of Galicia was already talking about 40 Christs torn from graves and Europa Press raised the total count to more than 50 crucifixes around the same time. One of the latest media to take stock has been Galicia Press, which on Wednesday the 18th reported the lack of more than 70 Christs in at least five different cemeteries.
But… And why is that? Cemeteries are spaces of mourning and meditation, so it is not common (at least in 21st century Spain) to find cases of missing Christs like the one that shakes rural Ourense. There are a few theories to explain it. It could be acts of vandalism. Or some practice related to esoteric rituals.
The Galician authorities are not inclined towards one or the other. For them the mystery is much simpler: the Civil Guard is investigating it as robberies, attacks carried out by criminals who are not interested in crucifixes and their artistic or spiritual value, but in something much more prosaic. What interests them is the brass, the stainless steel and especially the copper with which these pieces were manufactured, a metal that recently reached a record Price.
‘Red gold’ thieves? Exact. The Civil Guard recently acknowledged to Europa Press that it works “without ruling out” any possibility, but the starting hypothesis is quite simple: criminals sneak into cemeteries at night, especially in winter, steal figures that are often made of metal and then melt them down and sell them. Its objective focuses above all on copper, the ‘red gold’, whose price has skyrocketed after the revaluation in recent years.
The idea is that the material reaches the scrap market without raising suspicions and is reused in the industry. The Region He even talks about the “gang of the Christs” and suggests that they could be traveling professional criminals.
Where have they stolen? The thefts seem to focus on a specific area, in the province of Ourense. Galicia Press basically targets rural cemeteries in the Celanova region and nearby towns, which includes cemeteries such as Santa María de Pontefechas, San Xoán de Viveiro, San Breixo de Celanova or Santo Eusebio de A Peroxa. There are those who expand the affected area in the province and speak of assaults on cemeteries in the towns of Maside, Verea or Allariz.
The thieves also do not hesitate to take rings or resort to force to extract metal pieces, which has already led them to break crosses or some Christ, as in Pontefechas, where in one of the raided tombs only part of an arm remained fixed to the stone head. Some parish priests of the archpriest have alerted their parishioners to be alert to thefts.
Why copper? For its value. It’s nothing new. Although its price has fallen slightly in recent days, the price of ‘red gold’ has risen significantly over the last year, reaching historical peaks at the beginning of 2026. The Region He specifies that a kilo of this metal can be sold for between eight and ten euros, which explains why it has been on the gangs’ radar for some time.
The interest of criminals is not limited to cemeteries. Not long ago the Civil Guard dismantled a group that was dedicated to stealing copper cables in part of Asturias and the province of Lugo. The authorities estimate that a total of 24,000 kilos valued at 115,000 euros had been made. In 2025, a similar gang was killed in Ourense and at the end of 2023, the arrest of other criminals dedicated to the same activity in the border area with Portugal was reported.
Does it only happen in Galicia? No. A quick Google search arrives to find news about copper theft in other communities in Spain. Since the gangs are interested in the material, they can use the wiring of wind farms and industrial coils as well as telephone, rail transport or lighting infrastructure. Proof of how juicy the business is is that at the end of 2025, Interior reported the arrest of 18 people accused of more than thirty copper thefts worth 1.7 million euros.
And what happens in cemeteries? Galicia is not the only place where cemeteries (and their metallic decoration) have whetted the appetite of criminal gangs. Last autumn the National Police counted around 200 tombstones in the Torrero cemetery in Zaragoza that had suffered damage. Most for the same reason: tearing off bronze figures and other ornaments.
More or less similar episodes have been experienced in the Community of Madrid, Castilla y León or the Region of Murcia, where in 2023 the authorities arrested several people for allegedly carrying out more than 80 robberies in a municipal cemetery. The objective is the same: to loot copper, bronze and brass for resale.
Images | M. Peinado (Flickr) and Ministry of the Interior
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