Tug of war over Columbus bell

The bell was due to be sold on Thursday

A dispute has broken out between Spain and Portugal over who owns the bell believed to be from Christopher Columbus's ship, the Santa Maria.

Anything found inside a Spanish ship is Spanish

David del Val Catala
auction house director

The ancient bell was found in the wreck of a Spanish galleon off the coast of Portugal in 1994.

It was due to be auctioned off in Madrid on Thursday but is now in the possession of a Spanish judge acting on instructions from Lisbon.

The Columbus link gives the bell a $1m price tag

This ship's bell is believed to have rung out 500 years ago as Christopher Columbus discovered the Americas.

It is the only known relic from his flagship.

Just 25 centimetres high, with a large hole in it and covered in green rust, the bell has a reserve price of $1m and was due to be sold off in Madrid on Thursday.

'Total surprise'

However, Portugal has filed a lawsuit claiming ownership.

It's a small victory in a long war

Rosa Amora
Portuguese Archaeological Institute

This led to it being seized from the Gestion de Activos y Subastas auction house on Monday by a plain-clothes policeman.

"It came as a total surprise this morning," said auction house director David del Val Catala.

He added that no information had been kept from either side in the dispute. Spain has challenged Portugal's claim, saying that although the bell was found in Portuguese waters, it was lying within the wreck of a Spanish galleon and is therefore Spanish.

"Anything found inside a Spanish ship is Spanish," Mr del Val Catala said.

Secure within a heavy protective case, the 15th-Century bell is now in the possession of a Spanish judge who will have to decide its fate.

Portuguese officials welcomed the news.

"It's a small victory in a long war," said Rosa Amora, deputy director of the Portuguese Archaeological Institute. "It's a court case now."

Ms Amora said Portugal's legal argument would be based on whether the bell actually belonged to the ship.