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Spain Spain and the United States
The anti-American sentiment that figured significantly
in
Spain's relations with NATO had its roots in the
historical
rivalry between the two countries for control of the
territories
of the New World. The Spanish-American War ended this
rivalry,
stripping Spain of its remaining colonies and leaving a
residue
of bitterness toward the United States.
In the years following the Spanish-American War,
economic
issues dominated relations between Spain and the United
States,
as Spain sought to enhance its trading position by
developing
closer commercial ties with the United States as well as
with
Latin America. A series of trade agreements signed between
Spain
and the United States in 1902, 1906, and 1910 led to an
increased
exchange of manufactured goods and agricultural products
that
benefited Spain's domestic economy. Cultural contacts and
tourism
also increased.
The emotions of the American public were stirred
profoundly
by the outbreak of the Civil War in Spain, and
approximately
3,000 United States citizens volunteered to serve in the
Spanish
Republican Army, although the United States government
remained
adamantly neutral. Following the Nationalist victory, much
of
public opinion in the United States condemned Franco's
regime as
a fascist dictatorship, but the United States government
participated in various Allied agreements with Spain,
aimed at
ensuring that Franco would not permit the Iberian
Peninsula to be
used by Adolf Hitler against Allied forces
(see Foreign Policy under Franco
, ch. 1).
The 1953 Pact of Madrid between Spain and the United
States
provided for mutual defense as well as for United States
military
aid, and it brought to an end Spain's postwar isolation.
It did
not end anti-Americanism in Spain, however. Francoist
leaders
resented having to accept what they considered to be
insufficient
military supplies in return for basing rights. They also
chafed
at United States restrictions against the use of American
equipment in defending Spain's North African territories
in 1957.
This anti-American sentiment was bipartisan in Spain.
Whereas
Francoists resented the United States for its democratic
form of
government, the opposition parties in Spain perceived the
United
States as the primary supporter of the Franco regime and
therefore as a major obstacle to the democratization of
Spain.
Following the death of Franco in 1975, the United
States
welcomed the liberalization of the Spanish regime under
King Juan
Carlos and sought to bring Spain further into Western
military
arrangements. In 1976 the bilateral agreement between
Spain and
the United States was transformed into a Treaty of
Friendship and
Cooperation. In addition to renewing United States basing
rights
in return for United States military and economic aid,
this
treaty provided for a United States-Spanish Council
intended to
serve as a bridge to eventual Spanish membership in NATO.
During the early years of democratic rule, the
government's
focus was on consolidating the parliamentary system, and
foreign
policy issues received less attention. However, a point of
contention persisted between the governing UCD and the
Socialist
opposition over Spain's relations with NATO and with the
United
States
(see Spain and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
, this ch.).
When Calvo replaced Suarez as prime minister in 1981,
he made
vigorous efforts to gain approval for Spanish membership
in NATO,
and shortly after this was accomplished a new executive
agreement
on the use of bases in Spain was signed with the United
States in
July 1982. This agreement was one of a series of renewals
of the
basic 1953 arrangement, providing for United States use of
strategic naval and air bases on Spanish soil in exchange
for
United States military and economic assistance
(see Military Cooperation with the United States
, ch. 5).
Many Spaniards resented the presence of these bases in
Spain,
recalling the widely publicized photograph of United
States
president Dwight D. Eisenhower, throwing his arms around
Franco
when the first agreement on bases was signed. There were
occasional popular protests against these reminders of
United
States support for the dictatorship, including a
demonstration
during United States president Ronald Reagan's 1985 visit
to
Spain.
The Socialists had consistently advocated a more
neutralist,
independent stance for Spain, and when they came to power
in
October 1982, Gonzalez pledged a close examination of the
defense
and cooperation agreements with the United States. A
reduction in
the United States military presence in Spain was one of
the
stipulations contained in the referendum, held in 1986, on
continued NATO membership. In keeping with this, the prime
minister announced in December 1987 that the United States
would
have to remove its seventy-two F-16 fighter-bombers from
Spanish
bases by mid-1991. Spain also had informed the United
States in
November that the bilateral defense agreement, which
opinion
polls indicated was rejected overwhelmingly by the Spanish
population, would not be renewed. Nevertheless, in January
1988
Spain and the United States did reach agreement in
principle on a
new base agreement to last eight years. The new military
arrangements called for a marked reduction of the United
States
presence in Spain and terminated the United States
military and
economic aid that had been tied to the defense treaty.
Data as of December 1988
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