What’s on the Spanish mind these days…

by

Could it be terrorism? One would think that could be it considering the fact that the Spanish were victims of their own catastrophic terrorist attack but no, that’s not it.
Could it be human rights? Please, we know already that the current Spanish policy is deaf dumb and blind to the human rights abuses of its favorite trading partner and sex tourism destination, Cuba.
No, of all of the things that the Spanish could be concerned about it’s booty that’s on their mind.
And when I say booty I mean as in Pirates of the Caribbean, Jack Sparrow type of booty. You see an American company has discovered a sunken Spanish treasure from the time when the Spanish were plundering the new world of all its gold and silver. I mean when we picked the slogan for the BUCL campaign (Spain: Exploiting Cubans for over 500 years) we didn’t think the Spanish would go out of their way to prove themselves as frozen in a psychological state of colonial masters.

The Spanish Government is today reported to have started legal proceedings through the Florida Courts, the home base of Odyssey Marine Exploration, as part of its claim for the £250 million valued treasure discovered by the same company.
The Spanish Government has appointed James Goold, an international lawyer who has represented Spanish interests in the past in similar cases.
Spain has called upon the US company to provide information on the sunken treasure recovered in the past month, and which has been described as one of the biggest treasures found ever. The Spanish Government has indicated that the necessary mechanism exists in the US to protect any rights to the treasure which might exist.
The rift between Odyssey Marine Exploration and the Spanish Government has led to tensions at a diplomatic level as the Spanish Ministry for Culture takes the lead in the claims against the company. The Spanish Foreign Ministry has, nevertheless, been seen to take a back seat on the issue as both Spain and the US continue to clash on other major foreign affairs issues such as the relationship between Spain and Cuba.

Maybe someone should tell Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos that Florida is not part of the Spanish empire anymore and the courts here probably won’t be too sympathetic since the Spanish government never made an attempt to locate much less raise “their” lost treasure.
Sorry Charlie Carlos!

7 thoughts on “What’s on the Spanish mind these days…”

  1. More of the same …. throughout their history, they’ve been synonymous with pillaging and plundering. Why should they be any different now? Hello???
    In their infamous minds, we’re still colonias, don’t you know that??
    I had one cabbie in Madrid tell me years ago that “the jails in Spain have more Latin Americans than Spaniards.” Translation: You scum from the new world. I have nothing but contempt for you.
    Only, it’s mutual, mijo.
    “Spain has called upon the US company to provide information on the sunken treasure recovered in the past month, and which has been described as one of the biggest treasures found ever.” Yep, for all their socialism and progressive commie politics, they’re capitalist to the core; lo unico que les importa es EL CA$H. Notice how they suddently show up to claim what SOMEBODY else found. I hope Odyssey hires the meanest pack of wolves — er, lawyers — and wipes the floor with these pirates.

  2. Capitalists EARN money; socialists TAKE money. And Zapatero is your typical socialist parasite. No surprises here at all.

  3. This situation speaks for itself, and loudly. The Spanish government is a lot of things, but I don’t believe it’s actually retarded. They have to know this would look bad–certainly not PC. However, there’s the little matter of about 500 million dollars, and that’s evidently a higher priority than image, fairness, morality and other trivial concerns. You know, like with Cuba. Who really cares about human rights, when there’s money to be made?

  6. Sorry, but I have to draw the line somewhere!!!
    Whereas the Spanish government has been guilty of acts involving moral turpitude (in regards to Cuba) these past forty eight years, I refuse to paint all Spaniards with the same wide brush.
    Gigi,
    “Throughout their history, they’ve been synonymous with pillaging and plundering.”
    Just so you know… Before the Spaniards began their “pillaging and plundering” as you call it, the Vikings (8th – 11th centuries) were very adept on that same “sport.” But they were not alone… As a matter of fact, ancient pirates of the Mediterranean (as early as 13th Century B.C.) not only attacked and stole from merchant ships; they were also known to attack cities with vulnerable ports as well. This “pillaging and plundering” not only continued well into Roman times “but it grew so bad that land and sea trade grew into a complete standstill.” It took three months of endless fighting on land and sea by the Romans to finally end this “pillaging and plundering” somewhat.
    The “pillaging and plundering” in the Caribbean, (which I assume is the one you refer to) began after the colonization of the Americas, which led to what is known as “the Golden Age of Piracy.” Then, lo and behold, blurring the line between privateering and pirating, the English (think Francis Drake) French and Dutch pirates, under Letters of Marque from their government, were authorized to “pillage and plunder.”
    Those Spaniards, that you claim, and many believe, are “synonymous with pillaging and plundering” were, according to historian writer, Philip Wayne Powell, the “shield and the spear of the Christian West against the infidel East for a thousand years.” For those that don’t have a clue about Spain and its territories from the 15th-19th centuries, let me begin by saying that Spain commanded a great empire: Spain, Sardinia, Sicily, Southern Italy, The Americas (except Canada, Brazil and a portion of North America,) Belgium, Luxemburg, Switzerland, Germany, The Netherlands, Austria and Hungary,) King Charles I of Spain and Archduque of Austria (1516-1556) was also Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (1519-1556). Europeans can thank Charles V and the Spanish Infantry of the 16th century (the best in the western world at the time) for keeping the Christendom free of Turkish rule. It was also thanks to this “pillaging and plundering” that Charles V was able to have the funds to fight the “infidels.” (By the way, France, as usual, sided with the infidels and against the “superpower of the time” even in those days)
    Those Spaniards that you claim are “synonymous with pillaging and plundering” created great changes in European society. Not only did they end the Arab monopoly in the gold trade, “but the American gold and silver imported into Europe spurred scientific inventions.” Not to mention that it made the Renaissance possible, sparked a boom in the European economy, and contributed to the rise of Capitalism and Mercantilism.
    Those Spaniards that you claim are “synonymous with pillaging and plundering” gave us the Spanish chroniclers who wrote most of what we know today about the life and culture of the Amerindians.
    Those Spaniards that you claim are “synonymous with pillaging and plundering” contributed greatly -both financially and militarily- to the independence of the United States. You will never read it in an American history book, but it is very well documented in American, Spanish and Cuban archives. Believe me, if it weren’t for King Charles III of Spain, Bernardo de Galvez, Juan de Miralles, and many others, chances are we would all be singing “Hail to the Queen” rather than the “Star Spangled Banner.” For more info read “Spain: Forgotten ally of the American Revolution” by Buchanan Parker Thomson.
    With regards to Odyssey Marine Exploration and its finding, all I know is the following:
    Odyssey Marine Exploration is headquartered in Tampa, Florida. This is why the Spanish Government has started legal proceeding in a Florida Court. The actual site is in Spanish territorial waters off Costa del Sol, Spain. According to the Spanish government, Odyssey had a permit from the Spanish/British governments to investigate the site of the HMX Sussex a British ship which sunk in 1694 only. Even so, they were not authorized to do any extractions. On May 17, 2007, Odyssey chartered a Boeing 747, which later landed in New York. On May 18, 2007, Odyssey displayed their newly found treasure in Florida.
    According to Spanish authorities, the position of the Odyssey these past few months were tracked by satellite AIS-Live and SIVE. Both indicate that Odyssey Explorer and Ocean Alert were at all times in Spain’s territorial waters.
    I don’t know what the outcome of the legal proceedings will be. I do know that there are salvage laws that most countries recognize. If Odyssey doesn’t come clean, they can very well hinder any future investigations by other salvage companies.

Comments are closed.