Police in Madrid are searching for about 70 paintings worth an estimated €600,000 (£475,000) after three men walked out of an art gallery with the works as the sun rose last Thursday.

The thieves are thought to have spent two to three hours carrying the paintings out of the Puerta de Alcalá art gallery and propping them against nearby trees before loading them into a van.

The men are believed to have entered by punching a hole in the wall of a neighboring bar, said Pedro Márquez of the gallery, noting that the bar had been closed for about a year.