124.52/219
The Counselor of Embassy in Spain (Thurston) to the Secretary of State
[Received January 27.]
Sir: I have the honor to refer to my despatch number 289, of January 4, 1938,4 and to report that the Secretary General of the Ministry of State has now informed me as follows with respect to the recent refusal of the President of the Council of Ministers to receive me:
Following our conversation, Señor Ureña5 went personally to the [Page 151] Presidential office, where he received confirmation of the opinion he had expressed to me—namely, that Señor Negrín’s refusal to receive me was not based on personal grounds but rather on a fixed policy. He stated that the Spanish Government is becoming increasingly displeased by the continued residence abroad and in Madrid of members of the diplomatic corps accredited to it, and that as a means of giving point to his views about the matter, Señor Negrín has determined that he will not receive any Chargé d’Affaires ad interim whose Ambassador or Minister is deliberately and continually residing elsewhere than Barcelona. Señor Ureña added that prior to my last interview with Señor Negrín, in Valencia, he had already refused to receive the British Chargé d’Affaires ad interim, Mr. J. H. Leche, and thereafter (as reported in my first despatch) he had refused to receive the French Chargé d’Affaires ad interim, Mr. Payard—who, incidentally, was so incensed that he threatened to return to France at once. In order to be consistent, Señor Negrín has now felt it necessary to refuse to receive me. At this point I expressed to Señor Ureña my regret that I had not been apprised of the situation immediately and in an appropriate manner—instead of being permitted to make repeated requests for an audience, only to be told at last that Señor Negrín was too busy to see me. Señor Ureña replied that this of course was much regretted and was not to be attributed to Señor Negrín but to his subordinates.
During this conversation, Señor Ureña further informed me that the Ministry of State has notified the members of the diplomatic corps still residing in Madrid that they must come to Barcelona.6 Those who have alleged as the reason for their failure to leave Madrid that they have refugees in their Missions have been assured that they may bring their refugees with them and continue to grant them asylum here. As is reported in my confidential telegram of this date (No. 858)7 one of the purposes of the new general evacuation order is to bring pressure on such Missions to come to this city.
As the Department is aware, France has established its Embassy in Barcelona, and the new Ambassador, Mr. Labonne, has now taken up residence here. The British Chargé d’Affaires, Mr. Leche, has been given the rank (perhaps local only) of Minister, and the Ambassador, Sir Henry Chilton, has left Hendaye—presumably not to return. It obviously would be highly advantageous to the Government if it could bring about the removal of Ambassador Bowers from Saint-Jean-de-Luz to Barcelona, and I am inclined to believe that its successes [Page 152] in the cases of the British and French Embassies may have induced it to bring the matter to our attention in the inept manner described.
I have, at the moment, no information with respect to the decisions that may have been reached by the several diplomatic missions in Saint-Jean-de-Luz and Madrid with respect to the desire of the Spanish Government that they establish themselves in Barcelona.
Respectfully yours,
- Not printed.↩
- Secretary General of the Ministry of State.↩
- An Executive Order dated January 3, 1938, and published in the Gaceta of January 5, 1938, made compulsory the evacuation of Madrid within 30 days of all persons “who cannot justify their continued presence there by virtue of military service or indispensable war service.” (124.52/211)↩
- January 10, 7 p.m., not printed.↩