Archive Report
Archive Report
Free World Efforts to Bolster Spain
Austerity measures, introduced or planned in Spain to make that country eligible for economic aid from certain international agencies, may afford an early test of the present strength of the 20-year-old regime of Generalissimo Francisco Franco. Many observers dismissed recent signs of growing popular restiveness under dictatorial rule with the observation that most Spaniards were more concerned about consumer prices and job opportunities than about loss of civil liberties. However, drastic devaluation of the peseta1 will increase prices for imported products. Employment opportunities, moreover, may be seriously affected by removal of import restrictions, reductions in government spending, and credit restrictions—all called for by Spain's economic stabilization plan. Benjamin Welles reported in a dispatch from Madrid to the New York ...