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Spanish fury as Columbus replicas are left to rot
By Christina Lamb in Lisbon and James Langton in New York
THE Spanish government is furious that a fleet of replica sailing
ships sent to America for a goodwill tour on the 500th anniversary of
Christopher Columbus's arrival, has been left to disintegrate inTexas.
The Pinta and the Santa Maria are currently rotting on land in a Texas
shopping plaza, timbers devoured by termites and paint peeling in the
sun and wind, while the Nina, although still in the water, is so badly
damaged that it has been closed to the public. Unlikely ever to raise
their sails on the high seas again, the meticulously constructed ships
face a forlorn future as novelty seafood restaurants.
The neglect has outraged the Spanish government, which spent �9
million on a national project to build the three copies of Columbus's
ships for the 1992 tour.
Although Columbus never got as far as Texas, Spain agreed to lease the
ships to the south Texan port of Corpus Christi after the tour in the
belief that they would be treasured. It was also hoped that the gift
would help to bring together the town's Anglo and Hispanicpopulations.
Instead they have caused a rift between Spain and the United States,
left the city millions of pounds in debt, and will be a sore point in
Madrid's dealings with America's new Texan President, George W Bush.
James Goold, the American lawyer for the Spanish Embassy in
Washington, called the ships "cultural and historic gems". Last week
he said: "We have an immediate crisis because no one is taking care of
the ships and they are deteriorating rapidly."
Built with oak and pine from the same forest as the originals and held
together by thousands of hand-forged nails using 15th century methods,
the replicas took 15 years to build, yet in less than half that time
they have been rendered completely unseaworthy by their Texan hosts.
The problems started almost the moment that las carabelas (the
caravels), as they are known, sailed into the bay in 1993 to be a
permanent attraction. Replicas of the ships in which Columbus and his
crew survived on stagnant water and worm-infested biscuits, the three
were about to begin a far-more nightmarish journey.
The Corpus Christi stop had been one of the most successful of their
18-city tour, with more than 100,000 visitors, and so popular were the
ships that the city fathers formed the Columbus Fleet Association
(CFA), a charity, borrowing �700,000 to obtain a 50-year lease fromSpain.
The ships were originally moored on the bayfront, a popular tourist
destination. The first week, however, a tropical storm blew in
threatening to smash the ships against the docks and they had to be
moved to an inland marina. For two months almost no one visited them.
The following year, disaster struck. A large barge broke free of its
moorings and rammed the Santa Maria and the Pinta, badly damaging both
vessels. Repairs have continued for years, effectively killing the
venture as a tourist attraction.
The Nina was left in the water, although closed to the public, but the
Santa Maria and Pinta were hauled into a dry dock on a concrete
shopping plaza behind the Corpus Christi Museum of Science and
History. Wooden ships need to be kept in water and both vessels are
now deteriorating fast. Paint is peeling and the timbers are under
attack from both rot and termites.
According to one member of the Corpus Christi Convention and Visitors
Bureau, which took over the management of the vessels earlier this
year: "The termites are holding hands. That is the only reason the
ships are still standing up."
Experts now estimate it will cost as much as �500,000 to restore the
ships, money that does not exist. The CFA already has interest
payments of �190,000 a year to cover its debts on the money it
borrowed to build a permanent display for the ships - and no income.
Questions have also been asked about a �1.1 million insurance
settlement from Lloyds of London that was obtained in 1997 after a
long court battle involving the barge owners - in spite of this, the
ships have still not been repaired.
An investigation by the Corpus Christi Caller-Times newspaper found
chaotic record keeping. CFA board members drew thousands of dollars
for a "fact-finding" mission to Spain, with �285,000 of the settlement
going on "administrative expenses". The project is now believed to be
�2.8 million in debt. Meanwhile, the Spanish government has become
increasingly concerned at the condition of its ships. The issue has
been raised in the Spanish press with questions asked over why the
Columbus ships were ever lent to an American town to which the
explorer had never been.
With the CFA now dissolved, Spain is attempting to retrieve the fleet
and find it a new home. The ships are in such a sorry state that they
could not be sailed back to Spain. Instead they may end their lives as
a customer attraction for a sea food restaurant chain in Galveston,
playing host to children with cartons of ketchup-laden chips rather
than explorers with maps and astrolabes.
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