
Spanish galleon may contain biggest treasure haul ever found on seabed - Thevet
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/dec/06/wreck-spanish-galleon-treasure-haul
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fesja
Disclaimer: I am a Spaniard

This is going to be a long fight because traditionally those ships and its
content belong to the owner. There are some international rules that some
countries have agreed on (UNESCO): [http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-
URL_ID=13520&URL_DO=DO_TO...](http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-
URL_ID=13520&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html). Colombia hasn't signed
that, but it doesn't mean they shouldn't obbey.

I don't know about this topic, so I won't add much more. However I wouldn't be
so ingenous to think that the full treasure belongs to Colombia or to Spain. I
suppose they will end up in international legal figths and they will end up
agreeing on sharing the treasure. In any case, they CAN'T sell it (I believe)
so it'd be as worthy as the tickets of the museum. It's more of a patriotic
fight than a practical fight.

~~~
fesja
Bonus point: Peru could get into the fight too because some of the gold,
silver and emeralds could have come from there. Back to the old books!

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jorgon
For your information, another similar case (Fragata Mercedes) was ruled in
favor of Spain by a US Federal Court:
[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/spain/54441...](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/spain/5444134/Treasure-
hunters-ordered-to-pay-Spain-350m-for-gold-coins.html)

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thinkingkong
If you like this, I highly recommend reading Pirate Hunters. Its a quick read
and tells a very interesting story.

[http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23164968-pirate-
hunters](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23164968-pirate-hunters)

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Patronus_Charm
It seems so odd that it takes so long to find these sunken vessels with so
much tech at our disposal?? I reckon one good robbery deserves another.

~~~
cba9
I wondered that too but then they cover how it's been embroiled in a legal
battle for 30 years now. So apparently its location more or less _was_
discovered a long time ago, it's only now that the legal battle has ended that
more detailed investigation can take place.

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JoeAltmaier
Huh. How can gold, silver and emeralds taken from South America, be “national
cultural patrimony” of Spain? Aren't they a treasure of the South American
natives they were taken from?

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jorgon
It is Spanish cultural patrimony in the same way Rosseta Stone is British
patrimony. Legally it is owned by Spain.

~~~
rockyleal
Legally? Going by whose laws? The legitimate owners of all that wealth are the
indigenous inhabitants of the territory it was extracted from by invaders.
According to indigenous law, it is definitively NOT legally owned by Spain.

~~~
golergka
> indigenous law

Are you referring to some particular legal entity here, or just an overall
concept?

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rurban
I like the fact that Spain first robbed their colonies Peru and Bolivia of
their gold and silver, and then was able to rob the company who found and
rescued the treasure.

~~~
jorgon
There were no colonies, there were part of the "Virreinato de Nueva Granada"
learn some history before spreading anti-Spanish bullshit.

