Loose Change ... and Watches ... and Jewelry
(Upcoming Article to be Published in Barcelona Metropolitan)
At 8:30 on a summer Sunday morning, the last detectoaficionado on the beach at Barceloneta loped barefoot across the sand toward a chiringuita. He waved in a familiar way to the owner as he began to dismantle his metal detector and stuff it into a medium-sized rucksack. “Boticario” was the name that he gave, though his eyes searched the sky for a moment before he let it roll slowly off his tongue. “I work this beach every morning, for about three or four hours.” Dressed only in trousers and a faded baseball cap, his lithe frame and dark skin corresponded to that of most every other beach resident in the world. Everything else about the man was guarded and mysterious, even if his evasions were delivered with a mischievous smile.
“Let’s just say I’m a multi-tasker,” was his answer when asked about his full time job. “I have various gigs.”
Boticario, who also declined to be photographed, was necessarily reserved about providing too much personal information. He’s a man who profits from other people’s losses, who skates the fine line between what is illegal and what the authorities actually enforce. He combs the beach every morning with a metal detector looking for items that –by Spanish law—should be turned over to the authorities for assessment.
Historical Heritage Law 16, June 25th 1985 basically states that anything under the ground belongs to Spain. And the discovery –either intentional or by accident—of any valuable object must be handed over to the authorities for study. Once a proper value is assessed, the state will pay out half that value to be shared equally among the property owner and discoverers.
The gap from Royal Decree to actual enforcement, however, is rather large. Though not insurmountable, it remains untraversed. According to Kiku Santiago, a communications officer in the mayor’s office, “I don’t believe there’s any normative regulating this activity. There’s certainly no policy to enforce this. Of course, if there’s an archaeological excavation, a person can’t go on site without a permit. But that’s another story.”
Just such a case happened in Badajoz, Extremadura, when a man was arrested by the Guardia Urbana and fined 1500€ by the Council of Culture for using a metal detector within 800 meters of an archaeological site. But the case was thrown out in June of this year on the grounds that nothing pertaining to Spanish heritage had been discovered. The defense also argued that the fine was out of proportion, given that the law was not well-known. Such cases are rare. And in Barcelona, non-existent.
“The Guardia Urbana has never arrested or fined anybody for using a metal detector,” said Jordi Vilasaló, Director of the Press Department of the Guardia Urbana. “Nor is there any policy I know of that regulates or controls this activity.”
The cop on the street –or beach, as it were—is certainly unaware of any law regulating the search for valuable items in Spanish soil. An affable Guardia Urbana officer (who, due to policy, cannot give his name) stood in the door of the beachfront commissary and spoke positively of the detectoaficionados. “They come by every day and turn over id cards and keys that they find. Nice guys.”
Boticario, with three heavy gold chains hanging from his neck, gave a patronizing smile when asked what he does with the more valuable items he finds. “You can use your imagination.” He tapped his pocket, which seemed to have about a quarter kilo of metal in it. “Some days are better than others. Today, only coins.”