Spain's navy treasure hunt finds 100 wrecks

Spanish navy vessels looking for sunken treasure off the country's coast have found about 100 possible shipwrecks, in the first fruit of a drive to protect Spain's historical heritage from private salvagers seeking gold and other booty.

Two minesweepers and other vessels located the sites in Atlantic waters off the south-western city of Cadiz as part of a campaign that began on 8 September, the culture ministry said.

Spain wants to avoid a repeat of a saga that began in 2007, when Florida-based Odyssey Marine Exploration found a sunken Spanish galleon and salvaged from it an estimated $500 million (315m) in silver coins and other artifacts.

That ship, the Nuestra Seora de las Mercedes, was sunk by the British navy south-west of Portugal in 1804, while it was sailing back from South America with more than 200 people on board.

An American court ruled last year that the loot belonged to Spain, but the company has appealed and still has the treasure.

So far, 15 of the sites have been analysed and the only thing of value that has turned up is an 18th-century anchor, the newspaper El Pais reported.

Spain's defence and culture ministers, Carme Chacn and ngeles Gonzlez-Sinde, boarded one of the minesweepers taking part in the search this week and insisted they were very serious about protecting vestiges of Spain's past.

"Where some see loot, we see our history. Where some look for gold, we find our heritage.

"Where others would seek to pillage, our calling is to conserve," Ms Chacn said in a speech aboard the ship.