A Spanish Purge Last week General Queipo de Llano was
dismissed from his post as Military Governor of Andalusia as a result of an indiscreet attack on the Burgos Government, and he is now believed to be under supervision. He is accompanied in disgrace by Generals Solchago, Moscardo, and Aranda, each of whom has done invaluable service to the Nationalist cause. All of these men are Conservatives of the tradi- tionalist type and opposed to the Falangists who are now the real rulers of Spain. Their disgrace probably means that the Falangists will triumph in the conflict that is now being fought over the vacant post of Prime Minister in General Franco's new Cabinet ; their candidate is General Franco's brother-in-law, Senor Serrano Surier, who, as Minister of the Interior, has established a police tyranny on the German and Italian model. The issue of the conflict is of the greatest importance to this country. The Falangists are committed to complete co-operation in the foreign policy of the Axis powers, which implies that Spain will offer assistance, either as a belligerent or as a benevolent neutral, in the event of war. The attitude of the Conservatives, monarchist and traditionalist, may be judged by a recent speech of General Aranda, in which, on his return from Berlin, he declared that Spain must remain aloof from any European conflict and that it is time for her to renew her friendship with the democratic powers.
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