Spain is not the only country claiming the area, the UN has received the same request from more than 60 other countries. But after many expeditions and studies by the Spanish Navy, the Institute of Oceanography and the Mining Institute, the Spaniards believe that they can really conquer this area based on Article 76 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
It covers a total of three separate underwater areas, including one north of Galicia on the northwest coast and one area west of the Canary Islands. In February, a team will travel to the United Nations headquarters in New York to discuss the request.
Raw material
Spain says it believes the areas may contain valuable resources such as gas, manganese and tellurium. Note that over 70 percent of underwater areas are uncharted territory, and the same is probably true of this area as well. “Now everything is more focused on conservation than exploitation,” says one of the researchers involved from the Spanish Navy.