In 1964 Spain formally requested the donation of the Debod Temple, one of the monuments that, together with the temples of Dendur, Taffa y Ellesiya, had been designated by the Egyptian government as donations for the highest contributing nations to the Nubian campaign. The request was accepted in 1967 after Spain had announced an increase in the economic aid, which was already in excess of 500,000 dollars. The following year, the government of the United Arab Republic issued a decree granting the Debod Temple to the Spanish State. Order of the Temple donation The chipped ashlar blocks of the temple had remained in Elephantine Island since 1960. A Spanish team headed by Martín Almagro Basch was sent there in 1969 to organise the delivery, packaging and transportation of the temple to Spain. The task met with some difficulties caused by the lack of packaging materials, and finally the ashlar blocks had to be sent by barge up the Nile to Alexandria. Ashlar waiting to be transferred The blocks were shipped aboard the freighter “Benisa,” which on June 6 left the ancient Ptolemaic capital and sailed out to Valencia. From June 20 to 28, 90 trucks travelled from Valencia to Madrid carrying 1,350 boxes with stones from the temple, which were stored at the site of the old Cuartel de la Montaña barracks in Prince Pius Hill.