The incident happened in the Santa Bárbara industrial area, shortly after 7.30pm, when a group of people burst into the premises with their faces uncovered.

The owner, Sergio, was alone at the time. "As soon as they arrived, they slapped me to scare me," he told SUR.

Two of the perpetrators then allegedly threatened him with large knives. "They held a knife to my right and another to my left. At first they told me they didn't want to hurt me, but then the threats began: 'Give us the keys or we'll kill you'," Sergio recounted.

According to him, the perpetrators' aim was to get hold of the car keys and steal the vehicles. Sergio, however, didn't feel intimidated enough to follow their orders.

"I wasn't going to hand them the keys on a plate," he said.

The gang resorted to force. Using various tools, they "broke into" the safes where Sergio keeps the spare keys. They managed to get the keys of two Peugeot cars.

After the gang fled, Sergio alerted the emergency services. Whether the police have made any arrests remains unknown for the moment.

Just 48 hours later, the two stolen cars turned up parked right outside the dealership, with the keys still inside. Sergio has no explanation for what happened.

He now admits to feeling "uneasy". "When you're in an industrial area, you can't rule out the possibility that something like this might happen to you and, sure enough, it's happened to me."

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