NEWS OF THE WEEK
TN Spain this week the major military operation has been .11. the final success of General Franco's attack on Castellon, 40 miles north of Valencia. Its capture will give him command of another 25 miles of the Mediterranean coast and open the way for the attack on Valencia. But that will have to be achieved in the face of further stern resistance. The bombing of combatants and civilians, however merciless, is no substitute for the winning of victories by the infantry and mechanised forces ; the Government will not be defeated until its positions have been captured. The process is bound to be a slow one ; though General Franco's swift advance in the last week seems to show that he (or his allies) is anxious for a rapid end to the war. The insurgents are reported once more to have achieved complete superiority in war material, on land and in the air ; moreover, General Franco is said to have con- tracted for the supply of large quantities of armaments from German firms. His Government at Burgos has this week taken a step which has somewhat reassured British commercial interests in Spain against the threat of German or Italian domination, in the issue of a decree laying it down that in future mineral concessions in Spain will only be made to Spanish companies. * * * *
