Revealed: Billionaire Spanish‘art smuggler’ bids for NZ visa
Spanish banker has been banned from NZ, yet his yacht is still here
A billionaire banker sentenced to three years’ jail for taking a $44 million Picasso work out of Spain has been refused entry to New Zealand — but the yacht involved in removing the painting is moored at Auckland.
Jamie Botin was convicted of trying to smuggle Picasso’s Head of a Young Woman, which he owned, outside Spanish waters on his 65m yacht Adix in 2015.
The 84-year-old is part of the Santander banking dynasty and has a personal fortune of $2.5 billion. His niece is chairwoman of the bank, which his great-grandfather founded.
Botin’s initial sentence in January
2020 was doubled to three years and he was fined $154m, but he appealed and walks free as the case continues.
The Adix, which Botin used to take the artwork out of Spanish waters, with the alleged aim of selling it, now floats in Auckland’s Silo Park marina.
It docked in the Bay of Islands in December last year and is now moored alongside the superyacht of another European billionaire, Jim Ratcliffe, who owns Ineos Team UK.
A source in the Auckland marine industry said Botin anticipated he would be able to join his yacht in New Zealand.
“I know the owner is still in court about this Picasso picture, fighting it,” the industry source said.
“Yeah, he did try to come [to New Zealand]. Can’t get in because of the restrictions. I think the beginning of this year he was supposed to come, January. He just loves sailing.
“I think it’s the fourth time the boat is down in New Zealand in its life. The two captains, they both rotate, there’s a Kiwi captain on board now.”
The Ministry of Health confirmed Adix was granted permission to enter New Zealand under a “refit and repair” maritime border exemption in November. Immigration NZ issued visas to 11 crew members of Adix. A
12th crew member was a NZ citizen. The exemption allows yachts to enter with international crew, if they spend $50,000 in maintenance work at a local marine yard.
Botin, whose nephew Marcelino is the principal designer for American Magic America's Cup team, was originally charged with taking the Picasso out of Spain in 2015 by the Spanish Government, which had imposed a national protection order for its significance to Spanish heritage. Spain has some of the strictest heritage laws in Europe and can deem a work of art more than a century old a national treasure.
Spanish authorities had begun to monitor Botin in 2012 after Christie’s auction house asked for an export licence to put Head of a Young Woman up for sale. The Spanish Government refused the licence, forbidding Botin to take the painting outside Spain.
However, in 2015, Botin’s son Alfonso took Adix to the French Mediterranean island of Corsica. Working from a tip-off, French Customs officials boarded the yacht and seized the painting. Prosecutors alleged Botin intended to take the painting to Switzerland to sell. It was taken to the Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid.
Botin claimed he was transporting the work to Geneva for safe storage and that it was rarely on Spanish soil during his ownership.
The banker acquired the Picasso in 1977 and it has hung in the Adix yacht for decades. Head of a Young Woman is from Picasso’s pink period and one of a few existing paintings he painted in 1906 in Gosol, Catalonia.
At one point, a floating art collection adorned the Adix including works by Turner and Corot.
Botin bought Adix from Australian Alan Bond, who bankrolled a successful America’s Cup challenge in 1983.