Spain defends its legacy, while Colombia seeks to recover it
In response to the question posed by deputies of the Popular Party, the Spanish Government reaffirmed the Spanish ownership and the legality of obtaining the well-known ‘Quimbaya Treasure’. According to the Executive, the pieces, preserved in the Museum of America in Madrid since 1893, were donated by the then president Carlos Holguín to Queen María Cristina. This statement arises in the midst of a dispute with Colombia, which seeks to recover the treasure through dialogue or legal resources.
The Spanish Minister of Culture, Ernest Urtasun, announced the creation of “spaces for dialogue and exchange” to address the issue of colonial heritage in state museums, recognizing the need to overcome visions anchored in gender or ethnocentric inertia. Meanwhile, the Colombian Government has reiterated its determination to recover the 122 pieces of gold that make up the ‘Quimbaya Treasure’, discovered in 1890 in the municipality of Filandia, department of Quindío.
The pre-Columbian Quimbaya culture, to which the pieces belong, lived in central Colombia until their disappearance in the 17th century. The delivery of the treasure to Spain in 1892 by President Holguín Mallarino was carried out in gratitude for the help provided by the Spanish Crown in a border dispute with Venezuela.
Notably. Another part of the treasure, made up of more than 90 pieces, is located in a museum in Chicago, United States, and its possible return to Quindío is also under consideration.