This WONDERFUL news. Here is my best attempt at a translation of today's report:The Archbishop of Santiago and the Dean of the Cathedral have been able to return this afternoon to turn the pages of the Codex Calixtino. After being located this afternoon in a garage or Milladoiro, police have taken the manuscript to the cathedral for Archbishop Julián Barrio and Dean Jose Maria Diaz could verify its authenticity. The Codex Calixtino will remain in custody until Friday, when it is scheduled to return to the Cathedral.
After the act of checking the authenticity of the Codex Calixtino, the Dean said "Some time ago there was a single track, and we were absolutely certain of the identity of the person who had taken it," said Jose Maria Diaz. "It is in perfect condition, even with the same records that I personally had the last time I handled it."
The Codex Calixtino was found wrapped in a plastic bag and at first sight, in perfect condition, hidden in a garage or Milladoiro, near Santiago
The appearance of the Codex Calixtino has dissipated the main concern of researchers, which was that the manuscript had been sold or destroyed.
The Codex was found in a garage in O Milladoiro garage just 7 klms from Santiago at 16.45 hours, in the midst of a huge buzz. It was in the first storage room in the building.
In addition to the manuscript in the garage there was also a small suitcase with books and various silver trays
A year after the disappearance of the codex, on July 5, 2011, the National Police yesterday made the first arrests in connection with the case. The main suspect in the theft is Jose Manuel Fernandez Castiñeiras, a resident of Milladoiro, an electrician who worked for over 25 years in the cathedral . He`was laid off in 2009. Sources of the cathedral say, however, that, after he left work there, the prisoner went to the site every day without any specific task. The former employee claimed € 40,000 for unfair dismissal.
With José Manuel Fernández Castiñeiras arrested in the street, have also been caught in the family home Milladoiro (Ames), his wife, Maria Nieto Remedies May, and his son, Jesus Fernandez Nieto, and the latter's alleged girlfriend Maria Jesus Quintero Seoane, at the residence of his parents. All three could be regarded as accomplices. Four arrested for stealing the Codex Calixtino are in the police station in Santiago de Compostela, and tomorrow will go to court, as the High Court of Xustiza of Galicia.
Those arrested were in possession of one of the Books of Hours also stolen, keys of the cathedral and 1.2 million euros
The police watched the old cathedral worker for some time during this week. Along with eight copies of the Codex, ancient religious books of value were also found - including one of the Books of Hours, whose disappearance was also denounced by the dean of the cathedral. The police uncovered related documentation with religious leaders of the church of Compostela, correspondence of the canons, access to key areas of the cathedral, a large amount of coins and other art objects from the site and 1,200,000 euros in two different buildings.
The thief was monitored for one year
Throughout this year, Fernadez Castineiras has been under surveillance by the police, who even tried to contact him in an indirect way to negotiate the return of the famous book, which is considered as the first tourist guide to the Camino to Compostela. When researchers were convinced that the suspect would not cooperate, they chose to stop trying to unlock the case.
The first news of the disappearance of the Codex Calixtino was met with disbelief. On July 6, 2011 confirmed that police were investigating the absence of the Liber Sancti Iacobi of the safe of the cathedral of Santiago, though theyc ould not pinpoint the exact day, between 30 June and 5 July, when the theft took place. The words were missing or lost giving way in the early days of the theft hypothesis, a theory that was supported on all lines of research in an international collaboration by the difficulties of access to the book, although police noted deficiencies in the system and security in the way the was kept in the file.
In the early hours two possible motives were suggested: an internal revenge, directed mainly against the dean of the cathedral and then head of the file, Jose Maria Diaz, or a theft commissioned by a collector. Some experts valued the Codex at 10,000,000 euros and the famous art thief Erik explained the Belgian said theft and can be ordered for 150,000 euros, but that could not be done without collaboration from within.
The police, with the addition of specialists of the "Heritage Brigade" of the National Police, began to study about 400 hours of videotapes of the 25 cameras that the cathedral was installed. With an added problem. In the room that kept the book there were no cameras, the closest were located in the access corridors. The operation was joined by Civil Guard and National Guard offices in Portugal.
After a month of the disappearance the police remained open to all lines of investigation. The theft was thought to be an opportunity theft, clained the researchers, the busy movement inside the cathedral and the lack of control over access to the interior and backpacks may have made this easier..
At the time, he Archbishop of Santiago asked the thieves to return the Codex and the government offered a reward for its return.
Three months later, the Dean resigned as cathedral archivist, admitting that the disappearance of the Codex was critical in that decision and, by all accounts, the keys to the box in which the book was kept with other documents were on the lock.
(There HAS to be another book in this!!!)