IBERICA (Sanitized)

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80B01676R003700080035-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 23
• Document Creation Date: December 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 7, 2003
• Sequence Number: 35
• Publication Date: January 1, 1960
• Content Type: MF

25X1
Approved For Release
MEMORANDUM FOR: Walter Elder, Assistant to the DCI
STAT SUBJECT:
25X1 REFERENCE: Letter to the DCII
25X1
25X1
25X1
STAT
1. A check with and the Office of Security revealed
the following information on Subject matter:
IBERICA, which is published in Spanish and English, reaches a s:1 ill
intellectual circle in Spain. It is distributed through the PSOE (Spanish
Socialist Party). A portion of its contents are taken from liberal
magazines published in France and England, among which is the Basque
Government in Exile publication, OPE. The tone of the magazine is
anti-Franco but not as strongly anti-Communist as inferred by
Ito the DCI. As a matter of fact, in sox:: ,-
instances It gives undue respectability to the Communists by reprintuLg
samples of their anti-Franco statements. The principal advantage ci
IBERICA is that it does keep the flame of the opposition alive in the
oun er intellectual circles in Spain and, 25X1
serves as a forum where the young, libera , anti-Communist
Spaniards may freely express themselves. Its audience in the U. S.
mainly limited to the Spanish exiles. A copy of IBERICA is attached.
25X1
2. Recommendation: In the DCI1s reply
something as follows:
]August 1 a 1960
he might say
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 Approved For Relea 0 29 : CIA-RDP B01676R003700 35-8
C I: I C
F O R A F R E E S P
In this issue
VOLUME 7, NO.
LOYALTY TO SPAIN
Xiceto Alcald@ /gN7/F ssCf 0 aye 9at676FV~ fflN8Co OF SABER:
ed that the s
eake
THE BANQUET OF THE
"UNION ESPANOLA"
On January 29 the political group
called "Union Espanola" held a
meeting in Madrid attended by
about 100 persons; some of them
were monarchists, others of more
democratic tendencies.
The immediate reason, for the
meeting was a letter which the writ-
er, Jose Maria Peman, a monar-
chist, had received from Sr. Carre-
ro Blanco, in which the former was
advised of General Franco's position
with respect to the monarchist
movement.
In his letter Sr. Carrero Blanco
is reported as having said "the Gen-
eralissimo has declared that SPAIN
IS A MONARCHY ALREADY,"
and that "General Franco is the
sovereign of the nation now and
as long as he lives." The monarchists
reacted by deciding upon this ban-
quet, during the course of which
they could say to Franco, also indi-
rectly, what they thought.
After.dinner speeches were deliv-
ered by Srs. Joaquin Satrustegui,
Jaime Miralles and Professor Tier-
no Galvin. Sr. Satrustegui severely "I believe that the future would
criticized, .the government's economic
he more solid if Franco would pre-
policy, "without present or future," pare for this event during his life,
and Spain's present administration, instead of depending on future de-
demonstrating with documents and cisions."
Government reasons the "illegitimacy of holds the means of orienting and di-
the present regime.,
recting the growing national sindi-
In commenting on Sr. Satruste- cal movement, which, in turn, has
_gui's words, Sr. Tierno Galvin said: in its hands a large part of Spain's
"Spain has awakened to a tremen- future." "Would dons reality; fiction begins to fall ficnlt to let the. monarchy be known
with all the weight of its crude and as something more than a vague
grotesque scaffolding. . . . We be- possibility subject to conjecture, and
lieve that the words pronounced by something more than silence with
Sr. Satrustegui do not
e
r
present an rt D
espec toon Juan?" . . . "I am
opinion but the clamor of the con- completely in agreement that the
science of an entire nation." monarchy should be installed as a
The banquet was authorized by continuation of the victory (an allu-
the police, and, according to well- sion to the Civil War) and its lead-
informed Sources, notes about the er." "It is necessary to pre-
speeches to be delivered had been serve the heritage of the Catholic
submitted for prior censorship. Monarchs and Charles V."
FEBRUARY 15, 1959
psis'
nnly
,si?~le
re-
for-
eign powers ,end of :=ehiev cer_
tain changes without gave c` ! t x crb-
ances. The "Ltninn Esioanolr ' lath-
ering relates ~o this ;ituat`, e, Gil
Robles' suppot t could vlecidk
titude of a certain s.'ctor
Church, and convinc tim
like Ruiz 'Gimf;npz, Tie sul--
the banking world could pert,
negotiation abroad of the (oat
ed for establishing the rarity hP
peseta.
All that is ii=ceded is to "t a the
cat," and the cat, the y
El Pardo Palaci%
"FRANCO ON THE BRIT
An article desc.i ibing th:~ fort
of the "Union Espanola" par
pearing in the February I edit
the New Statesman of London
with the following comment:
At-
the
of
*he
". . . the formation o the f?f
went is an act if open ieliar fr
Franco, whose penal code spec
ly forbids the c caiion .,F po
ing indicates they extent to c
.
Spanish business circles, and , =f,n
the army, are now camp ,,ignin e,r
Franco's removal"
PROFESSORS UNPAID
Iberica, Barcelona.: The Tniv(
professors who receive ext it pa'
special scientific research pro
have not received this e ~tra c
pensation for three montl s.
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p
rs were sh
ccse
quently arrested, this is not the case. Madrid, Iberica:- he K? of
They were called to police head- the "Union Espanola " issPect
quarters to make depositions, along of the preset it race for po r. The,
with some of those attending the situation is very fluid. T, s:-)in l
baltquet, among them tile Marquis of saber-rattling has ?teen rl for
of Casa Arnau, Mariano Robles several week here. 'lever: -it the
Rohledo, Luis Benitez ?de Lugo and younger military offic als hi r_r>ven
Amadeo Cardortello. warning that they A e pre i .c.d to
Those attending the banquet in- seize the reins of st:zte to f,'1oro
eluded Sr. Gil Robles, military of- order," before the con itry is 'tinged
fi
l i
na
s and representatives of indus-nto total bankrupts Th
try and finance. The presence of that such an eventu.:lity
Gil Robles would seem to broaden be avoided if a team of re=
the political spectrum of this gather- civilians is prepared apab
ing. On the other hand for the mo- storing the confidenc'r of
ment no agreement has been made
with Republican and Socialist sec-
tors, nor with the group headed by
Dionisio Ridruejo, AcciOn Democri-
tica Y Social.
PEMAN ANSWERS
CARRERO BLANCO
A letter dated Feb. 2, in which the
writer, Jose Ma. Peman, answered
the letter from Admiral Carrero
Blanco, which precipitated plans
for the dinner of the "Union Espa-
nola", was released to the press on
February 10.
The letter exhorts Franco to pave
the way for his succession. Here are
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the University of Barcelona. The,
i
n
MORE STRIKES
students of the Colleges of Law,
Textile workers of Torrasa Letters and Sciences welcomed them
Eight hundred textile workers went with a great ovation. Cries of "Free-
on strike in January in Tarrasa, one dom to those imprisoned," "LUt the
of the principle centers of the Cata- thieves be brought to justice," and
Ian textile industry, 20 miles outside "Make the list public." caued a
of Barcelona. Strikers protested the great commotion in the Law Col-
reduction of the working week to lege.
three days. Seven are reported to The police have ordered Raven-
have been arrested. tos, Rion and Sampons to r+-main
It had been feared for some time in their homes so as to avoid more
that the reduction in the working demonstrations.
week in the textile industry, reflect-
ing the overall slump in this indus-
try, would lead to serious discon-
tent.
Shipyard workers of Seville
(From Le Monde, of Paris, Jan. 27)
"More than 2000 workers parad-
ed through the streets of Seville de-
manding wage increases. Most were
employees of the aviation plant and
the naval shipyard. There were no
disorders or arrests, nor did the p,)-
lice disperse the denronstraters, even
though the latter carried big plac-
cards stating their demands. The of-
ficials of the two companies have
just received wage increases, but the
government has not authorized any
wage rise for the workers."
`STUDENT
DEMONSTRATIONS
(From Lc Populaire, Paris, Feb. a':
Barcelona: - - Student dernonstria-
tions continue in the University of
Barcelona for the release of the po-
litical prisoners. On Friday, Janu.
ary 30, classes were suspended in
the Law and Philosophy College;.
The students refused to go to class-
es and they marched through the
streets in an orderly way asking for
a broad amnesty for the political
prisoners. They distributed leaflets
in which they asked for the "inr-
t 1i prisonment of those guilty of export-
ing capital."
The Boletin Inferior published by
REQUIEM MASS FOR
GENERAL BAUTISTA
SANCHEZ
On Friday, January ?0, a requiem
mass was held for the late General
loan Bautista Sanchcr., the Military
Governor of Barcelcn.a who died
about two years ago under circum-
stances s rggesting tlra. his death was
not from natural causes. (It :vas rrr-
rrrored that the Gen,ural had been
poisoned on orders from on high.)
The requiem mast, was attended
by a great many outstanding monar-
chists, including many who oppose
the Franco regime.
BATISTA'S SON IN SPAIN
1 Fulgexrcio Batista Codines, son of the
I ex-dictator of Cuba, his wife and
three sons have arri%ed in Barcelona
where they plan to take up resi-
dence. I t is rumored that Batista
Jr. is endeavoring to arrange for a
visa for his father and ot'aer rela-
,Lives to come to Sp An.
SPAIN IN NATO?
On lanuary 9 two resolutions
introduced in Congress (House Con-
current Resolutions 26 an4l 29) by
Mrs. Edna F. Kelly, Democratic of
New York, and Mr.. Francis E. Wal-
ter, Democrat of Pennsylv.rnia, "ex-
the exiled autonomous government
of Catalonia and the U.G.T. (Uni(;rj
'I' i ' doles) in N4
pressing the sense of the Congress
that efforts should be made to in-
General de ra )aka the
pignan states in its most recent i a NIt,;l, Spain tic mTrb Treaty Organi to
tosyand Rion and the student Sarn
\pons, gave rise to a demonstration
2
troll,"
F'he resolutions
the Committee on
were referred to
Foreign Affairs.
CEI4SJR#D'fN SPAIN
Madrid (OPB) :-December 8, the
ay 14 the Iml taculate Conception,
is also" the World Day of the Im-
migrant. On this occasion His Holi-
ness Pope John XXIII sent a tele-
gram to Spain in whicli he sent his
blessings to all Spaniards who had
been obliged to leave their country.
However this portion of the Pontifi-
cal message was censored. in Spain.
THE "LIBERATION.
OF BARCELONA"
erica, Barcelona: On January 26
the officials of the regime celebrat-
ed the anniversary of the "libera-
tion of Barcelona.". The Civil Gov
ernor of Barcelona, Sr. Acedo Co-
Iunga, organized several official cere-
monies to which the Bishop and
other high-ranking members of th
Church were invited. However the
Bishop of Barcelona did not attend,
nor did he send a represent ative.
This conspicuous absence is signifi-
cant in view of the fact that the
Bishop had been present at then'
annual affairs in the past.
THE RIBADELAGO DISASTER
COULD RECUR
Iberica, Barcelona: -- There ha"
been much talk here about the re^-
semblance between the disaster
caused by the breaking of the d?trn
in Valencia in 1957 and this noes^;
catastrophe in Ribadelago. Both are
said to have been due to defective
construction by the government tee -
trolleed Institi.rto Nacional de lndi.uti-
tria (INI).
It is natural for the people to
come to these conclusions as it i,
already public knowledge that or -
ders have been given for the reser-
voirs to be emptied of one third it
their contents.
't'his measure is said to be beinrr
taken on the advice of foreign err-.
giueers, who have warned that all
of Spain's new dams run the risk
of breaking because of faulty con-
struction.
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ECONOMIC DANGER
SIGNALS IN SPAIN
For Release. 200/pain 07/29 : cannot
d~9- l WLO@90MW t`bLb
An article with the above heading
appearing in the January 17 edition
of the London Economist, ends with
the following paragraph :
A curious feature of the country's
economic plight is that things are
bad although American economic.
aid to Spain has just passed the bil-
lion dollar mark this does riot in-
clude $35{) million for the bases and
$400 million for the modernization
of General Franco's armed forces) .
In explanation` the ' Americans say
`at their economic assistance is not
/a recovery program; it is for "de-
fense support," that is, it is designed
to help Spain to withstand the eco-
nomic impact of the joint construc-
tion of military bases and the moder-
nization of the armed forces. Amer-
ican aid, therefore, is not being
poured into the Spanish economy in-
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discriminately; it is being channelel
into basic and selected sectors, not-
ably to agriculture, electric power,
transportation, and the supply of
certain raw materials and foodstuffs.
The Americans feel that their aid
a 'serial number and a letter. The samples of Spanish
bills received by IBERICA include 1,000 peseta notes
issued on October 21, 1940, February 19, 1946 and No-
vember 4, 1949; 500 peseta notes issued on Novem-
ber 15, 1951, and December 31, 1951, and 100 peseta
notes dated April 7, 1953. All bear a serial number but
no serial letter.
A correspondent in Spain has had this to say: "I
have spoken with more than 20 persons, including bank
employees, but none could explain this phenomenon to
me. One friend who made inquiries with a friend of
his in the Banco de Espana received the following la-
conic reply: `If you should go abroad it would he
best not to take any bills without serial letters'.
"I first became aware of the existence of these bills
when I went to change some money into foreign cur-
rency and the money changer rejected them as being
`irregular'."
about 1 y excessively rapid industrial
development pushed forward at.the
expense of agricultural needs, by an
irremovable reluctance to disturb
vested interests, by resistance to for-
eign capital investment, and by ex-
cessive government controls on pri-
vate economic activity.
SPAIN THREATENS ISRAEL
(From Le Monde, Paris, Jan. 23)
Damascus, AFP:-Sr. Castiella has
made it clear that in his talks with
Spanish diplomats in the Arab coun-
tries he has impressed upon them
the need to improve relations be-
tween Spain and these countries.
In reply to questions posed by
journalists, Sr. Castiella recalled that
Spain has never recognized Israel,
and that in the event of Israel's ag-
gression against any Arab country,
no matter which, Spain's position
would conform to her friendship
with the latter countries. He also in-
sisted that the invitation extended to
President Nasser in 1955 to make a
visit to Spain still held.
ILLS WITHOUT SERIAL LETTERS
IRCULATING IN SPAIN
BBRICA has received reports from Spain of the cir-
ulation there of 1000, 500 and 100 peseta notes bear-
ng no serial letters; samples of these have been sent
o the IBBI?ICA office.
As is generally known, paper money should hear both
On January 13 an agre>-nrent ~'as
signed in Madri ; betwet :r. the
and Spain for (lie sale of st,
agricultural products in return
pesetas.
U.S. surplus cornmod::ties i he
shipped to Spat include $50.`
lions in edible ails (soyb.N.I.
official has admitted, "a glorious failure." Li ~ glor-
ious has been that of the Escombreras plan- where
about 4,000 million pesetas (about $ 100 3 z i _ lion )
have gone down the drain in a vain effort to c-Aract
oil from bituminous schists !
Finally, do you know that the fiduciary c:i c:ula-
tion leaped 3,500 millions of pesetas last r= onth,
bringing the total figure up to 72,518 million-? All
in all, there is not much call for optimism s,a the
economic front.
IN SEARCH OF PRO-ARAB POLITICS
As the reader can readily understand, the European
imperative is much greater than ever bet-or.- for
Spain; this the Spanish Government realizes, -id, to
be fair, one must say that it has realized it f