The man stole the bottles of wine together with his Mexican girlfriend, who herself is also sentenced to four years in prison.
Prison and compensation
After a nine-month search, the two suspects were arrested in Croatia last summer.
A Spanish judge ruled yesterday that the couple is guilty of the robbery, which the police say had been prepared in detail, and imposed joint compensation of more than 750,000 euros in addition to the prison sentences that must be paid to the hotel.
The two proceeded as follows: while the woman distracted the restaurant receptionist by ordering a salad at two in the morning, the man sneaked into the wine cellar with a key he had stolen from the now unmanned reception.
However, the man had brought the wrong key, so his accomplice also ordered a dessert after the salad, which the clerk then prepared. This gave the man the opportunity to take the right key and collect his loot in the wine cellar.
The thief eventually took 45 wine bottles, one of which was an 1806 Chateau D’Yquem, a Bordeaux wine with an estimated value of 350,000 euros.
Bottles never found
The two thieves had visited El Atrio three times before and, like many guests, had been given a tour of the wine cellar, which probably gave them the right knowledge to take the right, precious bottles of wine.
The arrest of the two on the border between Montenegro and Croatia followed an international search involving the Dutch, Croatian and Romanian police. The stolen bottles of wine were never recovered.
