The Spanish government insists on reaching an agreement for the rescue of the San José

Madrid. The Spanish government, chaired by the socialist Pedro Sánchez, insists on seeking an agreement cooperation with Colombia and its president, Gustavo Petro, for the rescue and preservation of the galleon Saint Joseph, sunk in the 18th century off the coast of Cartagena de Indias. Although the negotiations are barely incipient, since the aim is to create a new way of understanding the bilateral cooperation for the protection of underwater heritage.

The Spanish Minister of Culture, Ernesto Urtasun, belongs to the Sumar political formation, which is in turn a coalition partner of the Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE). After his recent arrival to office, Urtasun explained that one of his objectives would be the decolonization of museums and cultural policies, among which are the return of some archaeological pieces. Hence the position that the Spanish government maintains in the controversial matter of this ship and the treasure of incalculable value that it was carrying in its holds at the time of its shipwreck.

The position of the Spanish government, explained by the Ministry of Culture, was recently conveyed to the Colombian government through the Spanish ambassador in that country, Joaquín de Arístegui Laborde, who in turn explained the specific proposal for a bilateral agreement.

Open negotiation

The details of the pact are not yet public, since the negotiations to seal it are still open and in which the two countries are sought to be involved both in the rescue of the galleon and the supposed treasure, as well as for the preservation of the valuable objects that were found. would be found there, as long as the deep water operation is successfully carried out.

This was explained by the Spanish ambassador himself during an international symposium in the city of Cartagena de Indias, last February, which was titled Perspectives and challenges in the investigation of the discovery of the galleon Saint Joseph.

The Spanish diplomat stated: I have instructions from my government to offer today the possibility of continuing to work on the development of a bilateral cooperation agreement in this matter that allows Colombia and Spain to take a historic step, because they are qualified to do so, to create a paradigm of bilateral cooperation..

That agreement, added the ambassador, could have the collaboration of international organizations specialized in the matter, such as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), in order to create a new paradigm in terms of protection of underwater heritage.

According to the diplomat, underwater heritage is an issue that must be analyzed globally, because it is a shared legacy of extraordinary value. I believe that when we talk about the shared history, the common legacy between countries like Spain and Colombia, that treasure, that history is extraordinary., he claimed. He reiterated: the willingness of the government of Spain to continue analyzing all the issues on our cultural agenda, of that common legacy, addressing Colombian sensitivities here and in Spain on all issues in a constructive and proactive manner.

The position of the current Spanish government differs essentially from what the previous Spanish administration said, under the conservative Mariano Rajoy, whose head of diplomacy, José Manuel García-Margallo, and his then Secretary of State for Culture, José María Lasalle, appealed to the international legislation of UNESCO to defend Spain’s supposed ownership of the legacy that rests at the bottom of the sea. “The Galleon Saint Joseph It is a ship of state. It is a state ship, a war ship, not a private one, so there is ownership of the State where the flag of the ship is flagged. It is not about elucidating in a ruling who is the legitimate owner of the underwater heritage found, because, according to the principle of sovereign immunity, as long as a State does not expressly abandon its public underwater heritage, it will continue to be its owner,” García Margallo defended at the time.

The current government and the Minister of Culture seek, above all, the aforementioned agreementstrategic to defend the underwater heritage in a coordinated manner.