Evening star., 1942-01-19
Fernando Pc


A heated accusation that British
or Free French destroyer had vio-
lated Spains neutrality in one of its
African possessions injects a new
complication into the already ticklish
West African situation. The charge
is made by Arriba, the newspaper
mouthpiece of the Falange, Spain's
only political party, and is thus
semi official. In blistering language,
Arriba asserts that a destroyer
manned by Free French sailors
slipped by night into the harbor of
Santa Ysabel capital of the island of
Fernando Pc, cut out three Axis mer-
chantmen seeking refuge there, and
towed them out to sea. Free French
headquarters in London deny that
De Gaullist warship was involved,
and the British government as yet
has had nothing to say. The whole
affair seems somewhat mysterious,
but it is unlikely that the Madrid
pdA " VI gan WOuil nave uldiiuld az
tured the story without any founda-
ton in fact
Whatever the truth of the matter,
it brings out the strategic importance
of Spain's holdings in West Africa.
We usually think of the Spanish Zone
in Northern Morocco on the Straits
of Gibraltar as the only notable
remnant of Spain's once vast colonial
empire. Yet a glance at map of
the Dark Continent shows several
holdings conveniently spaced along
the contour of West Africa. Fer
nando Pc is a fairly large island
lying in the Gulf of Guinea just
above the Equator. Its extremely
fertile soil is devoted to cocoa planta-
tions worked by indentured black
labor recruited from the nearby
mainland, especially from the colony
of Spanish Guinea, sizable enclave
thrust into the bulk of French Equa-
torial Africa, which is now Free
French territory There are also
several smaller Spanish islands in
this region. Collectively, they form
potential threat to Britain's sea COM
munications around Africa, should
Franco Spain become increasingly
benevolent in it's neutrality toward
the Axis.
Further north is another block of
Spanish territory, situated about
halfway between the much-dis-
cussed French stronghold Of Dakar
and the Straits of Gibraltar. This
block consists of the land colony of
Rio de Orc and Ifni, together with
the Canary Island group just off,
shore. Rio de Orc is a desolate
stretch of semi-desert, used by Spain
as a penal colony, but the Canary
Islands are one Of Spains Oldest
colonial possessions, we'll populated
and with several good herbors, at
least for light craft and submarines,
together with facilities for air bases.
AdminiStratively, the CararieS are
regarded as part of Spain itself
rather than as colony.
The entire African situation is to-
day in a highly critical state, with
big developments possible at any
moment. The British offensive
which began so promisingly two
months ago from Egypt seems to be
at least temporarily checked half
way to its strategic goal, the main
Axis stronghold of Tripoli. Indeed,
there are many evidences that the
Axis may be meditating big African
counterofensive, including not mere
ly the reinforcement of its Libyan
armies but also an attack on the
nearby British island of Malta, and
possible moves into French Tunis
and further west into Morocco via
Spain. -
1t is that last possibility which
renders. the Fernando Po incident
potentially so significant. Offhand,
it looks as though the local colonial
authorities may have been guilty of
unneutral pro-Axis conduct, with or
without the tacit approval of Madrid,
and that the naval raid on Santa
Ysabel, if true, is a sharp warning
by either the British or by the Free
French, acting with or without Lon
don's undercover assent. On the
other hand, it is possible that the
alleged incident may be pure fake,
staged by the Franco government to
justify some secret agreement with
the Axis. In either event the truth
will soon come out.