This handout picture released by the Spanish Police shows a detail of the painting “The Annunciation” by El Graco which had been missing for more than 10 years. - AFP PHOTO

MADRID: Police in Spain have discovered two paintings by Spanish masters, one by Francisco Goya and the other by El Greco, which had been missing for more than 10 years, they said Friday.

Goya's “The Apparition of the Virgin of Pilar” and El Greco's “The Annunciation” were found in a house in the eastern city of Alicante.

The works, which belong to a private collection, were part of an international art exhibition and were reported missing in the late 1990s after it returned to Spain.

Police had included both paintings in a database of missing or stolen and art works in order to hinder their international sale.

Officers stepped up their investigation last October after receiving reports of the possible sale of the two paintings.