Christopher Columbus’s DNA to shed light on his origins

The north-western Spanish region of Galicia is on the shortlist. So too is the Balearic island of Mallorca, with the theory that Columbus was the illegitimate son of the prince of Viana, brother of King Ferdinand, who endorsed his breakthrough voyage.

Another hypothesis proposes that Columbus was a Jew from the Mediterranean port city of Valencia. His obscure early life, according to this theory, can be explained by the fact that he sought to hide his Jewish background to avoid persecution by the fervently Catholic Spanish monarchs.

Elsewhere in Spain, there are also claims by the regions of Navarre and Castilla La Mancha to Columbus’s provenance. In Portugal, one theory states that the explorer was a nobleman-pirate whose real name was Pedro de Ataíde.

RTVE has provided tantalising clues ahead of the broadcast, including that the results “will revolutionise everything we have studied” about Columbus. However, Marcial Castro, who was involved in the project, said in a teaser film that he saw the “traditional Genovese theory” as the most obvious one to back as a historian.

In a statement, Prof Lorente said that his team wass “still analysing very important recent data” which would not affect the content of the documentary but would have scientific significance and would be presented in November along with the full results of his team’s research.

The programme Colón ADN. Su verdadero origen (Columbus’s DNA: His true origins) goes out on Spain’s TVE 1 on Saturday at 22:30 (20:30GMT).