23 January 2004

ALMERIA – The head of the team investigating the remains of Christopher Columbus said Friday the bones of the man who discovered America could be scattered in Spain and the Dominican Republic.

Researchers believe Columbus’ bones could be those found near Seville in southern Spain, but other parts of his body could also be in the Caribbean country.

“It’s the most plausible hypothesis,” Enrique Villanueva told reporters Friday.

The controversy surrounding Columbus’ true resting place is centuries old.

The Dominican Republic has claimed, since 1878, that the authentic remains of Columbus are buried at the Columbus Lighthouse in Santo Domingo.

Researchers, meanwhile, are awaiting a permit in order to perform DNA testing on the purported remains located in Santo Domingo, Villanueva said.

“If there is cooperation (from Dominican authorities), we could compare those with what we have, since apparently there are more remains there than in Seville,” he added.

Regarding the debate over Columbus’ final resting place, Villanueva said: “There is an authorisation from Charles V for the admiral’s remains to be taken from Seville to the Dominican Republic.”

“But the Archive of the Indies, which was quite rigorous, contains no records of when the remains were actually shipped to the Dominican Republic.”

Regarding the alleged remains of Columbus in Seville, capital of the Spanish autonomous region of Andalusia, Villanueva said: “We have DNA samples and they could probably be identified, although there is just a small quantity of material.”

“Determining if the remains in Seville are those of Columbus will probably be relatively easy to do,” he added.

[copyright EFE with Expatica]

Subject: Spanish news