why not spain?

[bobbysocks]

i have begun "casual" research into the relationship between germany and Fanco's Spain. this is was spured from the TV series Finding Hitler. the premise of that show is he escaped Berlin during the last days of the war and booked it to Argentina and relocated to other parts of south america. personally i dont believe it...BUT the last episodes boast they have it all figured out. anyways, what did impress me was the nazi presence in spain. it was anything but covert. millions upon MILLIONS were spent there on sub pens and other facilities...some of which are quite impressive. the locals knew the nazis where there so the OSS HAD to have an inkling what was going on there but it seemed it was deemed...a non issue, politically incorrect or a time bomb..or??? none of the allies put any pressure on franco to sever ties or distance himself from hitler.

all that being said...with all the operatons, pipeline of millions of money, and the relaionship between the 2 leaders....why didnt hitler have pilots trained in spain? in germany they were harrassed and fuel was an issue. there were no embargos of fuel going to Spain...despite the knowledge u-boats were dispatched from there. with the availability of fuel, influx of $$$, and freedom of clear air space...why didnt hitler consider that for a training ground for pilots like he did pre-ww2? there has to be something I have not seen or come across. i would think the answer is obvious....but the huge nazi presence and flow of cash negated that...

 

[Glider]

whilst I don't know the answer to the question I do know that Spain actively assisted the Allies in a number of ways re Gibraltar in particular around the movement of supplies and civilians.
Its worth remembering that Spain was a broken country economically and didn't have the strength for a fight. She was also very vulnerable to an economic blockade every bit as tight as the one on Germany and a lot of her needs such as fuel and raw materials could only come from overseas, The threat of these restrictions would have been more than enough to keep Franco in check

 

[tomo pauk]

German money will still be required to have the aircraft fueled and crew accomodations. LW crews were not harrased above Germany before 1944 anyway, by what time Spain knew too well in what direction the war will be decided.

 

[swampyankee]

Franco had only won the Spanish Civil War in 1939; he was still in the process of solidifying his control and removing (well, killing) his potential opposition and that he probably couldn't get a sufficiently large and reliable army to be a useful ally, regardless of his personal and political views on fascist solidarity.

"Many Republican figures fled the country in the wake of the civil war, and military tribunals were set up to try those who remained. These tribunals sent thousands more Spaniards to their death, and Franco himself admitted in the mid-1940s that he had 26,000 political prisoners under lock and key." -- Francisco Franco - Facts & Summary - HISTORY.com

"Coming to power after victory in a civil war that had devastated Spain, Franco clinched his grip on an impoverished and backward country by systematic terror." -- Out of the Crucible of Civil War, Franco's Iron Hand Forged a Modern Spain