This question came up in my Spanish culture and history class on the civil war and Franco's reign, but the lecturer didn't know, so I was interested and thought I'd ask here, see if anyone knew.
So as above, were the gold reserves ever returned to Spain? If so when? And why at that time (we assumed they wouldn't while Franco was still in charge)? And if not why were they allowed to keep it?
Thanks
I think there is a small flaw in your premise. The gold reserves were indeed sent to the USSR for safekeeping initially. However within days of the transfer there was an agreement between the Republicans and the Soviets that the gold would be used to purchase arms from Russia. Given the policy of nonintervention by Britain and France along with the assistance given to the Nationalists by Germany and Italy, purchasing arms from the Soviets was the only viable option available for the Republicans.
There is a bit of debate over the purchases. Some claim that the gold was used up in buying arms by 1938 at the latest (this is also the claim of the USSR at the time). Others claim that there was still a substantial amount of gold remaining when the war ended. The decision to send the gold to Russia is one aspect of the huge debate among the exiled Republican leadership after the war, and it was used during and after the war by the Nationalists to 'prove' that the Republicans were dominated by communists.
I don't believe I have read any accounts of the gold ever having left the Soviet Union.
Fairly good story here, in Spain is known as "el oro de Moscu" or "Moscow gold"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moscow_gold
On top of all that many Spanish books on the Spanish Civil War cite that while part of the gold was used to pay for Soviet equipment and weapons to be used by the Republican Government the quality of the goods sent was less than good. Other than few modern tanks and aeroplanes the vast majority of firearms, mainly rifles, are described as old and obsolete and second hand once used by the Tsarist Army. This created a huge issue in terms of spares and calibers rendering many of them useless.