THE OLYMPICS : WINTER GAMES AT ALBERTVILLE : Summer Controversy Comes Early : Spain: Stuffed bushman at Barcelona museum called “unbelievable” by IOC’s DeFrantz.

Less than 24 hours before the opening ceremony of the 16th Winter Olympics Saturday at Albertville, France, International Olympic Committee officials have been confronted with a potentially explosive issue that is causing representatives from African countries to question whether they should send teams to the Summer Olympics more than five months from now at Barcelona, Spain.

At the center of the controversy is El Negro, a 19th-Century Kalahari bushman who is believed to have been removed from a grave in Bechuanaland, now Botswana, in 1888 and stuffed and mounted for display at Barcelona’s world exposition.

Since 1916, he has been exhibited in a glass case, holding a shield and spear in his hands, alongside stuffed animals in the Darder Natural History Museum at Banyoles, Spain, the site of the rowing competition during the Summer Olympics.

Ten months ago, Alfonso Arcelina, a Haitian physician who lives in Spain, began a letter-writing campaign to have El Negro removed from the museum and reburied.

Among those he wrote was International Olympic Committee President Juan Antonio Samaranch of Spain, who said in his response that he would investigate the matter.

On Wednesday, however, some IOC members said that they were unaware of the issue until questioned about it by reporters.

“It’s unbelievable,” said Anita DeFrantz of Los Angeles. “I can’t imagine a country hosting the Olympic Games can be so inhumane and so insensitive. It’s time for Spain to join the modern world.”

According to the Associated Press, officials from the Nigerian embassy at Madrid are planning a meeting this week with officials from other African embassies in Spain to discuss possible action, including a boycott. An editorial in “Jeune Afrique,” a Paris-based magazine widely read in Africa, has called for a boycott.

DeFrantz, an opponent of boycotts in the past, stopped short of that, saying that she trusts Samaranch to settle the matter.

But the citizens of Banyoles have been resistant. After the city council voted unanimously Nov. 29 to leave El Negro on display, T-shirts supporting the decision went on sale in the city.