http://www.gibfocus.gi/details_todaysnews.php?id=2514
Spain now believes that the recent treasure find of Odyssey Marine came from a Spanish wreck in international waters.
This is "the most likely hypothesis" Carmen Calvo, Spanish Culture Minister, told Parliament in Madrid yesterday. Her comments came just 24 hours after the Spanish Director General for Foreign Affairs Jose Pons is believed to have a heated discussion with the British Embassy over the release of documents relating to the treasure transferred from Gibraltar.
Spain has been shooting from the hip on this matter ever since the "Black Swan" find was announced on May 18th. Most of their speculation as to where the recovery was made has since been proven false and forced them to backpedal on many statements. A recent revelation concerning Odyssey's non-disclosure with Volvo seems to have finally pressured Spain and it's cultural minister to stand down. That revelation shed light on why Odyssey's ships were in and around the Spanish coast as they were hired by Volvo to place a treasure chest of gold and the keys to a car on the ocean bottom as part of a promotion.
Initially the treasure was suspected to be from the 366 year old Merchant Royal, an English merchant ship which sank off of the Isles of Scilly with a cargo of Spanish coins. Recently Spain has claimed that it came from the Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes which sunk in 1804.
According to the latest reports a note verbale was delivered on June 26th during a tense meeting in Madrid between the British ambassador Denise Holt and Jose Pons, Director General for Europe at the Spanish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Chronicle said today.
The renewed tensions this week comes at a sensitive political moment when the UK undergoes changes in its Government, and as both the Gibraltar and Spanish Governments look towards a summer break, with possibilities of elections following that. Both Governments appear to be trying to keep the air of co-operation stable, while trying to resolve the rift over the operations by Odyssey Marine Exploration which continues to operate from naval base berths in Gibraltar.