740.0011 European War 1939/26281: Telegram
The Ambassador in Spain (Hayes) to the Secretary of State
[Received December 4—10:45 p.m.]
1952. The Minister of Foreign Affairs assured me again, last night, that Spain considered it had nothing to fear from the United States and that the United States had nothing to fear from Spain. He again expressed admiration for our military operation in North Africa and especially of the secrecy with which it was carried out. He said the only thing that gave him some concern was the fact that United Nations and Spanish troops along the Moroccan border were very close to each other, at some places not more than 20 meters apart, and he feared that some small incident might occur which might become embarrassing to both sides. He suggested specifically that troops be withdrawn somewhat from the border in order to reduce the possibility of physical contact between the two forces. He said no other aspect of our operations in Morocco was causing Spain any concern.
He again expressed the belief that Spain would stay out of the war and the hope that it would take a leading part in recovery on the [Page 315] continent. He said Spanish history indicated that Spain endeavored to avoid extremes and that Spain doubtless would develop along traditional lines and in accordance with its Christian culture and civilization. He did not dissent when I suggested that it was just as unreasonable to suppose that Spain would continue to have a quasi Nazi ideology as to suppose that it would become Communist.
There are still no reports of unusual military activities in Spain and I adhere to my belief that Spain still hopes and believes it can stay out of this war and that Franco’s policy is directed squarely at that objective.
I have nothing to confirm the Naval Attaché’s report that Germany last week asked for bases at Málaga and the Balearics and that Spain refused.