The final destination for the treasure taken from the sunken wreck of the "Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes" by US marine exploration company Odyssey, will not be finally decided until it is back in Spain, said Education and Culture  Minister, José Ignacio Wert, on Tuesday.  He also added that it would not all go on show in one place.

First of all essential conservation and restoration has to be carried out before the archaeological find can be analysed and interpreted "in historical terms", he explained.

"We cannot contemplate a single resting place for it", said the minister, adding that the treasure's destination has to "be appropriate for the cultural and historical value of these collections, whilst of course, making them accessible to the greatest possible number of Spaniards".

In his statement, Wert also acknowledged the importance of the legal precedent set in this case with regard to safeguarding "Spain's underwater cultural heritage" and thanked the previous government for their efforts in ensuring that the treasure was returned to Spain.

A number of Spanish cities have already laid claim to the treasure.  Pilar Barreiro, the mayor of Cartagena, believes her city is the most appropriate place to receive the treasure seeing as it is home to the National Museum of Underwater Achaeology.

The regional government in Andalusia has pointed out a number of links between the treasure and various andalusian towns ad has already made requests to house some of the treasure.  Sevilla wants to display the treasure in the Navigation Pavilion on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the World Expo held there in 1992, whereas Cadiz has laid claim to the treasure on the basis that it was the final destination for the sunken ship - "Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes".

Carmen Moreno, deputy director of the National Museum of Archaeology, has confirmed that a team of six Spanish experts have already inspected about 30% of the cargo, which has been stored in over 500 containers in Florida for the past five years, assessing the condition of the treasure and comparing each item with the original inventory carried out by Odyssey.  The inspection is expected to be completed by Friday.