Bases in Spain
The postponement of the negotiations between Spain and the US on American bases in that country, coming so soon after the visits of the French Minister of the Interior and Chief of Staff to Madrid, is bound to suggest that General Franco has seen the possibilities for blackmail inherent in present diplomatic groupings. No doubt the Spanish Government hopes to extract better terms from Washington in return for a continuation of the facilities granted under the ten-year agreement which expires in September, but it seems unlikely that it is really considering abandoning its pact with the US in favour of a new one with President de Gaulle. One of the qualities for which the Caudillo is noted is a prudence which served him well during the war. He must be perfectly well aware that France has little to offer in comparison with America. Little publicity has as yet been given to the most sig- nificant point—that the Spanish Government is said to have replied evasively to French hints that Spain might care to adhere to the Paris- Bonn axis, and, though General Franco may de- sire to end his own isolation—perhaps by entry into NATO—there seems little doubt that eventually he will agree to renew the agree- ment on US bases.
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