A Spanish winery has suffered losses of more than €2.5 million (£2.1 million) after an unidentified intruder emptied 60,000 litres of wine.

A representative of the Cepa 21 winery told the BBC the wine spilled came from two of the winery’s most expensive varieties, Horcajo and Malabrigo.

He said the incident took place at about 03:30 local time (02:30 GMT) on Sunday and that the intruder was likely familiar with the winery grounds.

Police are investigating the case. In CCTV, a hooded person can be seen moving between tanks and rapidly opening them, causing their contents to spill on to the floor.

The Cepa 21 representative told the BBC that it was “very hard to open the tanks”, which include a security mechanism, without prior knowledge. Therefore, he said, it could be assumed that the intruder “is used to opening these tanks and is familiar with this kind of machinery”. He added: “This person was moving very smoothly across the winery grounds, even though it was dark and there was no light. “This must be a person who knows the grounds well.”

But he said it was too early to speculate on their identity and said there were no grounds to suspect current or former employees at this stage.The intruder opened five tanks, although only three were filled with wine.

Cepa 21 is located in Castrillo de Duero, a small village in north-western Spain. Horcajo wine retails for around £80 a bottle in the UK, while Malabrigo sells for £35.

(BBC)