MADRID (Reuters) - The government has welcomed a Florida court decision ordering U.S. treasure hunters to return to Spain over 500,000 silver and gold coins raised from the seabed.
Tampa-based Odyssey Marine Exploration found the 17-tonne haul, which some experts valued at $500 million (308 million pounds), two years ago in a location it never disclosed.
Spain said the coins came from the "Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes," a warship carrying treasure back from Peru when it was sunk by British gunboats off the Spanish coast in 1804.
Spain quickly claimed the loot as its own but not before the Odyssey flew the treasure from the British colony of Gibraltar to Florida.
"I am delighted that the judge has ruled that the ship belongs to Spain and the treasure belongs to Spain. It is a very important decision," Spanish Culture Minister Angeles Gonzalez-Sinde told Spanish television, adding that it set an important precedent.
Odyssey said it planned to file a written objection to the ruling which says the firm must return the loot within 10 days.
"We'll be back to argue the merits of the case," said Odyssey CEO Greg Stemm. "Odyssey has done everything by the book. For the court to find that enough evidence exists to conclusively identify the site as the Mercedes ... is just wrong."
According to Odyssey, the judge ruled that there was sufficient evidence to confirm that the site was that of the Mercedes and that the vessel and its cargo were subject to sovereign immunity.
A copy of the ruling was not immediately available.
The Mercedes sank in the first few minutes of the Battle of Cape St Mary's as a huge explosion ripped it apart, killing more than 200 sailors aboard.
The attack led Spain to declare war on Britain and enter the Napoleonic Wars on the side of France.
(Reporting by Ben Harding; Editing by David Cowell)
