Moscow Gold (Spain)

Northern façade of the building of the Bank of Spain in Madrid. Most of the gold reserves held inside until 1936 were sent to the Soviet Union during the Spanish Civil War.

The Moscow Gold (Spanish: Oro de Moscú), or alternatively Gold of the Republic (Spanish: Oro de la República), was 510 tonnes of gold, corresponding to 72.6% of the total gold reserves of the Bank of Spain, that were transferred from their original location in Madrid to the Soviet Union a few months after the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. This transfer was made by order of the government of the Second Spanish Republic, presided over by Francisco Largo Caballero, through the initiative of his Minister of Finance, Juan Negrín. The term also encompasses the subsequent issues relating with the gold's sale to the USSR and the use of the funds obtained. The remaining quarter of the Bank's gold reserves, 193 tonnes, was transported and exchanged into currency in France, an operation which is also known by analogy as the "Paris Gold".

Since the world now was aware of the existence of a large mass of gold in Moscow, the term "Moscow Gold" would eventually be popularized for any Russian funding worldwide.

Since the 1970s the specific episode in Spanish history has been the focus of many essays and works of literature, many relying on information from official documents and records of the time. It has also been the source of strong controversy and historical debate, especially in Spain. Disagreements are centred on the political interpretation of its motivations, on its supposed usage, its effects on the development of the conflict, its subsequent influence on the exiled Government of the Republic and on the diplomatic relations between the Francoist government and the Soviet Union.