SUBDIRECCIÓN GENERAL DE PROTECCIÓN DEL
PATRIMONIO HISTÓRICO
ELISA DE CABO DE LA VEGA
Subdirectora General
Subdirección General de Protección
del Patrimonio Histórico - MECD
In 2005, Spain ratified the 2001 UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage, thus making an ongoing commitment to defend, study, and value this wide array of artifacts of cultural heritage. In Spain, it is the Department of Protection of Historic Heritage that coordinates the implementation of the Convention.
SUBDIRECCIÓN GENERAL DE PROTECCIÓN DEL
PATRIMONIO HISTÓRICO
In 2007, Spain's Council of Ministers, intending to transform the commitment made by ratification of the Convention into a set of effective and well-planned actions, approved PNPPAS, the Plan Nacional de Protección del Patrimonio Arqueológico Subacuático (National Plan for the Protection of the Underwater Archeological Heritage.)
SUBDIRECCIÓN GENERAL DE PROTECCIÓN DEL
PATRIMONIO HISTÓRICO
Spain's National Plan for the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage - Decalogue of guidelines
1. Documentation and inventory. 2. Creation of an "Integrated Program of Geographical Information on the
Underwater Cultural Heritage". 3. Agreement by all public administrations to mandate the highest possible
level of protection for the most significant underwater archeological zones on our coastlines, to be known as "Assets of Cultural Interest".
4. Physical and legal protection. 5. Training. 6. Appropriate resources. 7. Coordination. 8. Development of an action protocol for construction of port infrastructure. 9. Development of inter-ministry agreements. 10.Dissemination and raising awareness.
SUBDIRECCIÓN GENERAL DE PROTECCIÓN DEL
PATRIMONIO HISTÓRICO
On December 12, 2007, the Historical Heritage Council established a working group to draft the PNPPAS development document, whose end product was the Libro Verde del Patrimonio Subacuático [Green Book of Underwater Heritage] Proposes the priority actions that Spain should carry out to ensure effective guardianship of its underwater cultural heritage.
Green Book of Underwater Heritage
SUBDIRECCIÓN GENERAL DE PROTECCIÓN DEL
PATRIMONIO HISTÓRICO
November 2008 saw the re- inauguration of the ARQUA, the National Museum of Underwater Archeology.
ARQUA- ARQUATEC The National Museum of Underwater Archeology
SUBDIRECCIÓN GENERAL DE PROTECCIÓN DEL
PATRIMONIO HISTÓRICO
ARQUA- ARQUATEC The National Museum of Underwater Archeology
Recently, a new conservation and restoration laboratory, ARQUATEC, was opened. This means that Spain now has one of Europe's cutting edge facilities, competent to respond to any problems that might arise anywhere in the country regarding its underwater cultural heritage.
SUBDIRECCIÓN GENERAL DE PROTECCIÓN DEL
PATRIMONIO HISTÓRICO
• The first Meeting of the Scientific and Technical Advisory Body to the 2001 Convention on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage took place at the Spanish National Museum for Maritime
• Archaeology (ARQUA) in Cartagena, Spain, on 14 and 15 June 2010. • 2013 this museum was the host of the First National Congress on
Underwater Archeology
• October 2014, IKUWA V the International Congress on Underwater Archeology was held, drawing over 150 experts in the field.
ARQUA- ARQUATEC The National Museum of Underwater Archeology
The case of the Nuestra Señora de las
Mercedes
SUBDIRECCIÓN GENERAL DE PROTECCIÓN DEL
PATRIMONIO HISTÓRICO
The case of the Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes was a turning point in the area of legal defense of underwater cultural heritage against treasure hunting enterprises. The Spanish State, through its Ministry of Culture, and more specifically through the Department of Protection of Historic Heritage sued Odyssey, a treasure hunting company, before the Court of Tampa, Florida, in litigation that lasted almost seven years. Spain submitted what the Court referred to as "extraordinary documentation" from the Archives of the Indies and the Archives of the Spanish Navy to demonstrate that the wreckage was that of the Mercedes, a State-owned ship. The Courts at all levels ruled in favor of Spain.
SUBDIRECCIÓN GENERAL DE PROTECCIÓN DEL
PATRIMONIO HISTÓRICO
JUDICIAL DECISIONS
The case of the Nuestra Señora de las
Mercedes
SUBDIRECCIÓN GENERAL DE PROTECCIÓN DEL
PATRIMONIO HISTÓRICO
SUBDIRECCIÓN GENERAL DE PROTECCIÓN DEL
PATRIMONIO HISTÓRICO
The principal legal and factual points that were central to the decision were these: 1.- The evidence that Spain had assembled proved to absolute certainty that the “Black Swan” was the Mercedes. The court declared that Odysse had engaged in “ bad faith denial of the existence and identify of Spain´s Mercedes” 2.- The Mercedes was on active service as a ship of state and remains entitled to the sovereign immunity that all nations are required to grant ships of state 3.- Odysse´s activities at the shipwreck site “irreparably disturbed” a Spanish national archeological and historic site. 4.- The Mercedes´s sovereign immunity includes all of the cargo that Mercedes was carrying, including the shipments registered by particulares 5.- Odyssey was ordered to return to Spanish custody every artifact that Odyssey had taken from the Mercedes. 6.- Odyssey had no right to any payment or compensation for the coins and other artifacts removed without authorization by Spain
1- REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION,
Magistrate Judge, 3 of june, 2009
“More than two hundres years have passed since the
Mercedes exploded. Her place of rest and all those
who perished with her that fateful day remained
undisturbed for the centuries until recently.
International law recognizes the solemnity of their
memorial, and Spain´s sovereign interest in preserving
it.”
SUBDIRECCIÓN GENERAL DE PROTECCIÓN DEL
PATRIMONIO HISTÓRICO
2 - ORDER. DISTRICT JUDGE, 22 of
december, 2009
“It ordered Odyssey to release the recovered rest to
the custody of Spain.”
SUBDIRECCIÓN GENERAL DE PROTECCIÓN DEL
PATRIMONIO HISTÓRICO
SUBDIRECCIÓN GENERAL DE PROTECCIÓN DEL
PATRIMONIO HISTÓRICO
3 - UNITED STATES COURT OF
APPEALS, ELEVENTH CIRCUIT,
21 of september 2011
SUBDIRECCIÓN GENERAL DE PROTECCIÓN DEL
PATRIMONIO HISTÓRICO
4 - PETITION FOR CERTIORARI, THE
SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED
STATES,
29 of november 2011
SUBDIRECCIÓN GENERAL DE PROTECCIÓN DEL
PATRIMONIO HISTÓRICO
5.- FINAL RESOLUTION
September 25, 2013,
United States courts fined Odyssey for "continued
frivolity and bad faith" throughout the litigation, as it had
refused to identify the wreck, and exhausted all the
appeal despite knowing that it was indeed the Nuestra
Señora de la Mercedes, and defiantly resisted the rulings
of the courts.
SUBDIRECCIÓN GENERAL DE PROTECCIÓN DEL
PATRIMONIO HISTÓRICO
Return of the artefacts
United States-Spain
SUBDIRECCIÓN GENERAL DE PROTECCIÓN DEL
PATRIMONIO HISTÓRICO
INVENTORY AT THE MINISTRY OF
CULTURE
SUBDIRECCIÓN GENERAL DE PROTECCIÓN DEL
PATRIMONIO HISTÓRICO
The result of the count
total number of coins: 574.553
loose coins: 309.396
Coins forming blocks: 265.157
Complete Currencies: 570.753
Fragments of coins: 3800
SUBDIRECCIÓN GENERAL DE PROTECCIÓN DEL
PATRIMONIO HISTÓRICO
The exhibition "The Last Voyage of the
Frigate Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes"
SUBDIRECCIÓN GENERAL DE PROTECCIÓN DEL
PATRIMONIO HISTÓRICO
First Mercedes Expedition: A non-intrusive
archeological mission
The main goals of this survey were:
1.- To identify the total extent of the site, and to obtain scientific
information on the wreck itself and on the artifacts present on the site;
2.- To document the damage caused by the unscientific intervention
carried out by the US company, Odyssey Marine Explorations; and
Beginning and ending at the Rota Naval Base in Cadiz, the operation
took five days, from August 18 to August 23, 2015.
SUBDIRECCIÓN GENERAL DE PROTECCIÓN DEL
PATRIMONIO HISTÓRICO
SUBDIRECCIÓN GENERAL DE PROTECCIÓN DEL
PATRIMONIO HISTÓRICO
RESULTS:
1.- The effort succeeded in finding the exact location of the wreck, which allowed installation of a commemorative plaque in honor of all crew members who died
during the tragic British attack on the Nuestra Señora de la Mercedes. 2.- This archeological survey was conducted 1200 meters under the sea, which set
a record in the field of underwater archeology. 3.- The survey consisted of archeological mapping, and assessing the current
condition of the wreckage. 4.- A number of parts were removed, in an effort to document and research the
wreck of the frigate. Also removed were items of Nineteenth Century naval shipbuilding and other objects, which can now be found in the ARQUA
laboratories, for processing. 5.- Charts were made of the area in which the Nuestra Señora de Las Mercedes went down, and a systematic bathymetric sounding of the wreckage site was
carried out, with a redundant overlap of 100%. 6.- It was also possible to study how the systems and techniques used by Odyssey for extracting coins, caused
severe damage to the wreck.
SUBDIRECCIÓN GENERAL DE PROTECCIÓN DEL
PATRIMONIO HISTÓRICO
SUBDIRECCIÓN GENERAL DE PROTECCIÓN DEL
PATRIMONIO HISTÓRICO
TANGIBLE RESULTS:
1.- A Print and digital
publication “The shipwreck
Nuestra Señora de las
Mercedes”
2.- TWO videos: a 10-minute
video to disseminate the
success of the campaign and
other one of 20 minutes. to
which all participants in the
expedition contributed.
SUBDIRECCIÓN GENERAL DE PROTECCIÓN DEL
PATRIMONIO HISTÓRICO
Second expedition to the Mercedes
archeological site
The tasks to be carried out are: • removing certain objects, such as cannons, crockery, and narrow-caliber
arms called culebrinas, so it would be possible to continue research on the frigate's cargo;
• to document naval construction and navigation practices of the late
eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries;
• mapping and bathymetric cartography would be completed for this site and its total extent identified
• DATE: 7-19 September
SUBDIRECCIÓN GENERAL DE PROTECCIÓN DEL
PATRIMONIO HISTÓRICO
Second expedition to the Mercedes
archeological site
Results:
SUBDIRECCIÓN GENERAL DE PROTECCIÓN DEL
PATRIMONIO HISTÓRICO