Spain: The Awakening Land

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share of Franco's powers to a premier. According to high government officials, there is unanimous agreement, at least within the Cabinet, that Franco's powers should be divided so that his death will not paralyze the regime. But there is no agreement yet, nor any indication from Franco, on when or how the pre mier should be chosen. The liberals in Franco's Cabinet favor direct popular election, would like to see the premier removed entirely from Franco's control, empowered to choose his own Cabinet and held responsible only to an enlarged and more representative Cortes. The old guard, led by Alonso Vega and the military ministers, say Franco must appoint his own premier and control him.

Time is the most important factor. It is to the length of one man's life, and the rapidity of his action, that the continuity of Spain's economic, social and political advancement is tied. True democracy in the Western sense may not be on the horizon, for Franco believes — and many of his enemies agree — that Spaniards are so strong-willed that they need a firm hand to keep them in line. The fear is that if Franco disap pears before he has put his house in order, the social fabric of Spain will be stretched to its limit — or beyond — by the struggle for power that might follow.

If, however, Franco lives long enough and acts fast enough, and if the econo my keeps laying its golden eggs, Spain's future is bright, indeed. Which is why it is so important that Spain's present boom continue. A few more years of rising prosperity could easily instill the feeling of general well being on which, in anarchist Spain at least, real political maturity must be based.

* Spain itself has never had a King Juan, but four Juans have ruled in the land, two each in the ancient kingdoms of Castile and Aragon. Most famous of them were Juan II of Aragon, father of King Ferdinand, and Juan II of Castile and Leon, father of Queen Isabella.