Still making waves.

A two-decade genetic dig into Christopher Columbus's bones has flipped the script of history. The guy who sailed into the New World might not be the Genoese son we've always imagined but a Spanish Jew.

This claim stirs up a big pot of irony. The man who helped build Spain's empire might’ve been from the community Ferdinand, and Isabella kicked out in 1492—the same year he set foot in the Americas.

On Spanish National Day, amidst fanfare and flickering TVs, José Antonio Lorente - a forensic expert from Granada - dropped the bombshell findings. Using Columbus's DNA, he said there’s a whisper of Jewish ancestry.

“We’ve got just enough DNA from Columbus and his son Fernando to see the Jewish ties in their bloodline," Lorente pointed out. However, Columbus’s birthplace is still a mystery, although Lorente is betting on the Spanish Mediterranean.

The DNA story tells us Columbus’s roots are likely tangled with the Spanish Mediterranean or the Balearic Islands under Aragón's crown in the 15th century. Genoa didn’t have Jews in the 15th century, nor did Italy. France? Too sketchy. But Spain? Highly probable.

RTVE claims this discovery wraps up centuries of speculation. Columbus was pegged as everything from Genoese to Scottish. After poring over 25 places, Lorente zeroed in on Western Europe.

But not everyone’s buying it. Some scientists like Antonio Alonso and Rodrigo Barquera are raising eyebrows, noting the lack of peer review and the flashy TV reveal.

Lorente defends his methods, saying the study remains an unfinished project. He had ID'd Columbus's bones in Seville Cathedral just days before, confirming the famous navigator’s final resting place.

Columbus, who died in Valladolid in 1506, wanted his bones in Hispaniola. After wars and losses, they were shuffled around - from Hispaniola to Cuba, then Seville.

If Columbus was indeed Sephardic, it's a twist of fate. His voyages paved the way for Spain's mighty empire while his patrons expelled Jews during a fevered quest for racial purity.

In 2015, Spain tried to mend old wounds, offering citizenship to descendants of expelled Jews. Over 132,000 Sephardic folks applied before the window closed in 2019, hailing mainly from Latin America.