An $18 billion Spanish fleet treasure sits off Colombia's coast. Some say it should not be touched

The Minister of Culture of Colombia, Juan David Correa, announced that operations to recover the San José galleon will begin in April, as reported by El Economista. Correa stated that the April extraction will be for "cultural and technical research" of the ship and that the treasure operation "will not be for this year."

In 2022, former President of Colombia Iván Duque announced the discovery of two other shipwrecks in the same area where the San José is buried, according to El Economista. Duque mentioned that the Colombian Navy has located "a dozen similar vessels" in the same area.

Colombians have released videos of the San José, made with submersible cameras, showing the ship's wooden bow embedded with marine life, bronze cannons scattered in the sand, and gold coins and blue-and-white porcelain gleaming on the ocean floor, according to BBC News. The Colombian government has declared the sinking area of the San José galleon a Protected Archaeological Area and has not shared its exact location, contributing to an international conflict over the treasure involving multiple countries, as reported by El Economista.

The San José is considered the world's most valuable shipwreck and is often described as the Holy Grail of shipwrecks, representing one of the most significant findings in underwater archaeology, according to The Sun. The treasure found in the naval fleet, including the San José, is estimated to be worth between $7 billion and $18 billion, with some estimates valuing the San José's cargo alone at potentially $18 billion, making it the world's most valuable shipwreck, as reported by La República.

The legal battle over the San José treasure has reached the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, according to UOL. Spain claims ownership of the San José and its treasure, while an American company and indigenous groups from South America, including those from Bolivia and Peru, argue that the treasure is not Spanish, as it was looted from Andean mines during the colonial period, as reported by BBC News. Samuel Flores, a representative of the Qhara Qhara people, emphasized that the wealth "came from the mines of Potosí, in the Bolivian altiplano."

"It is a tangled case, and I see no easy way out of it," said historian Carla Rahn Phillips, as reported by HuffPost Spain. Maritime historians consider the San José wreck a cemetery, noting that 600 people drowned with the ship, and believe it should be treated with respect, according to El Economista.

Alhena Caicedo, director of the Colombian Institute of Anthropology and History (Icanh) since September 2022, believes there are "possibilities" of locating new remains to expand prior findings, while noting the area at 600 meters depth has "more concentrations of archaeological material," according to El Economista.

Caicedo emphasizes that the current intention is to investigate the galleon, not to extract it, as reported by El Tiempo. She states, "People who are thinking that it can be taken out are mistaken." She believes the work on the San José galleon has been very satisfactory and that it is a long-term project.

Spain asserts its claim, arguing that the San José and its cargo remain the property of the Spanish state. "The galleon San José is a state ship," said José Manuel García-Margallo, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Spain, as reported by El Economista. "It is a state warship, not private ships, so there is state ownership wherever the ship's flag is registered," he added.

The case is also litigated between Colombia and the treasure hunting company Sea Search Armada, which claims rights over the discovery of the wreck, involving multiple parties, including indigenous groups from Bolivia and Peru, as reported by El Economista. "The treasure of the San José should remain on the ocean floor, along with the human remains of the 600 crew members who died there," stated Juan Guillermo Martín, a Colombian maritime archaeologist who has closely followed the San José case, according to BBC News. He added, "The treasure is part of the archaeological context and, as such, has no commercial value. Its value is strictly scientific."

Archaeologists used sonars and unmanned underwater vehicles, to locate the most valuable pieces, many of which were under layers of sand and dead coral, making recovery possible, reported La República. Among the recovered artifacts are gold and silver coins, gold chains with religious symbols, and jewels with precious stones, including those hidden by pirates or colonists during raids.

The article was written with the assistance of a news analysis system.