Spanish Fantasy
TN a speech in Madrid last week, the British 'Ambassador .to Spain welcomed improved political relations between Britain. and Spain. According to the Madrid correspondent of the Times, he attributed the improvement `to the increased recognition of both governments that Britain and Spain were destined to represent their respective roles in the new Europe'—a statement sufficiently meaningless to be acceptable. But Sir No Mallet, the Times report went on, also said that both Britain and Spain had to combat Com- munist ideology, its atheism, materialism and 'submission of the individual to the State.' To talk of materialism at a Chamber of Commerce lunch in a country whose ruling caste is one of the most materialist in the world is within nor- mal diplomatic licence; but for the Ambassador to pretend that Franco Spain combats the 'sub- mission of the individual to the State' when it is perfectly well known to his audience that the political, religious and civil liberties of the indi- vidual in Spain are suppressed in order to main- tain the supremacy of General Franco in the State is to reach depths of -ambassadorial syco- phancy and fantasy reminiscent of the late Sir Nevile Henderson (some of the realities of the political life of Spain, ignored by Sir Ivo, are exposed in our correspondence columns this week). 'l'ouching on 'the various forms of liberty,' ended the Times report, 'Sir No Mallet said that there were certain people , in Britain and other countries who perhaps adopted a too "narrow concept of democracy." ' No doubt that is true; but however broad a 'concept of democracy' is adopted, it is difficult to see how it could in- clude a Police State ruled personally by a mili- tary dictator supported by the army, the Church hierarchy and the bankers, and disliked and opposed by about everybody else.
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