Around the World: Spain

Claims on sunken treasure

Spain is demanding a US deep-sea exploration firm turn over the entire $500 million treasure it salvaged from a shipwreck, saying yesterday it has determined the vessel is definitely Spanish.

James Goold, a Washington-based lawyer who represents the Spanish government, said the 19th-century shipwreck at the heart of a dispute with Odyssey Marine Exploration is without a doubt the Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes - a Spanish frigate sunk by a British warship southwest of Portugal in 1804.