Spain reveals for first time where it hides all its gold

Only a third of Spain’s gold reserves are held in Madrid, Spain’s national central bank and financial supervisor has explained, some 94 out of a total of 281 bars.

And these gold ingots are not even currently held in the iconic vault 35 metres underground, beneath the Bank of Spain headquarters in Plaza de Cibeles, but in another part of the building as a result of renovation works.

So where does Spain keep the rest of its oro (gold)?

The remaining 22,500 bars are not even held in Spain but stored at global financial centres, notably at the Bank of England in London, where around a third are held, and other sites including the Federal Reserve Bank in New York.

The Bank of Spain’s gold has always captured the public’s imagination. From its transfer to Russia during the Civil War to a vault that could be flooded by two natural streams should anyone attempt to steal it. 

José Luis Escrivá, Governor of El Banco de España, is well aware of the fascination around the buried gold, but says that the underground vault is impenetrable.

“A few years ago, I visited the vault with the creator of the series’ [Money Heist], Álex Pina, and he admitted to me that it is completely impossible to rob,” he explained.

Overall, Spain holds 281 tonnes of gold, currently worth around €33 billion. In 2007, just before the global financial crisis began, Spain sold 32 percent of its reserves, amounting to 134 tonnes. 

At that time, one metric tonne of gold was worth €16 billion, whilst today it is valued at €120 billion.

But this isn’t just about money. In the turbulent 2020s, this is also about geopolitics.

Spanish daily El País asked a cogent question in a recent column: Is Spain’s gold safe in a vault in an American bank? 

“The turning point,” writes Miguel Moreno Mendieta, “has been the deterioration in relations between the United States and its European partners. The White House has imposed tariffs and restrictions on various trade flows… Could Donald Trump seize it?”.

Trump has been openly critical of Spain, especially in terms of defence spending, and other European countries have also asked themselves the same question, reports suggest.

Three weeks ago, the Dutch government moved part of its gold reserves from the United States and Canada to the UK 

France and Germany had already taken similar steps recently.

But the head of the Bank of Spain has ruled out the possibility that Spain is considering repatriating any of the gold currently held abroad. 

“We are not planning to take any such action,” Escrivá stated at a recent financial event. 

But Spain doesn’t necessarily need to rely on other countries’ good will to protect its gold reserves.

Spain actually has the biggest goldmine in Europe… and it remains untapped. In a small town in Asturias, on the shores of the Cantabrian Sea, experts believe there’s as much as 300,000 kilograms of untapped gold underground.

In Asturias alone experts estimate there are as many as 480 gold deposits in the region.

The biggest goldmine in the northern region – and by far the most controversial – is that of Salave in the municipality of Tapia de Casariego, where studies have revealed that there could be as much as 300,000 kilograms (or 300 tonnes) of untapped gold deposits underground. 

READ ALSO: Spain has the biggest goldmine in Europe… and it remains untapped