INVEST IN 'STRIKE-FREE' SPAIN

The Castilian city of Valladolid was a fitting scene for a car-plant opening ceremony. Its medieval walls, convents and religious seminaries gave a cheerful welcome to the approaching entourage, led by the Prince of Spain, Juan Carlos The Prince was greeted by Lieutenant-General Emilio Villaescusa Quilis, captaingeneral of the 7th Military Region, and reviewed a division of his Infantry.

The band played a triumphal air and red and yellow flags of the fascist fatherland were draped over balconies. Romero «Romero Mengibar was there to give his lessing and complete the triac f the Sword. Cross and the Throne - the feudal symbols of Franco's fascist rule., The medieval charade was for the benefit of the opening of the latest extension to the Fasa-Renault car-plant which stretches 7km on the outskirts of the old city and is anything but medieval.

Jose María López de Letona, the Minister, of Industry, ended the day's celebrations, Left: After. inaugurating a new container port in Barcelona, Prince Juan Carlos strolls round the latest piece of foreign investment in Spain, with the usual entourage dignitaries and military. Above: It was all smiles as Tory Foreign Minister, Sir Alec Douglas-Home, shook hands with General Franco last week. Spain's Foreign Minister, Lopez Bravo, looks on, smirking with satisfactionSir Alec had just told them that the Tories would welcome Spain in the Common Market. after the bishop had blessed the production-line with a cup full of holy water, with fulsome praise of this European enterprise: 'The future of this labour with an eye on Europe requires production for a broad national market, but it is also a platform for focusing on the conquest of new markets. This factory has European status, and we can see how much "Fasa-Renault" is contributing to the development of Spain?

The Pope's water and Éuropean dream were for the benefit of a second assembly plant which will now enable 580 cars to be produced a day by 12,000 workers.

Renault was, with Fiat, one of the first European car monopolies to take advantage of the cheap, labour and illegality of workers' organizations under the Franco regime.

The first Renault factory was built in Valladolid in 1951. After 20 years, Renault has a total investment in its Spanish branch of 200 million francs alongside a 25-per-cent stake of the Banco Iberico and 25 per cent from public shares.

The shares are doing well on the Spanish stock exchange a dividend of 12 million francs paid out for 1971. In the first nine months of this year, 140,000 vehicles have rolled off the production lines.

Fellow pioneer in Spain was the Italian monopoly: Fiat, which began business in Barcelona in 1950 with the active support of the state National Institute for Industry, whose initial 70-per-cent participation has been cut down to 25 per cent.

Seat is now the main manufacturer in Spain. From its massive plant in Barcelona, where 24,000 workers are employed, 225,000 cars have emerged this year.

Remember that Spanish workers labour for six days a week for a wage of some £10. In last year's strike in Seat, one worker was shot dead by police with machine-guns who charged demonstrating workers.

The Citroen plant in Vigo. scene of the recent prolonged strike which is still being prolonged in the courtrooms of Vigo in trials of workers and their representatives, also began in the early 1950s. It provides tor o.› per cent ot the ›panish market.

Simca-Chrysler (8 per cent) and British-Leyland (6.5 per cent) only began to cultivate their patch in Spain from 1965 and 1967 respectively.

However, they were just in time to take advantage of the growth of the Spanish car market, which was to quadruple from 1964 to 1972.

The foreign investment in the 'Spanish' car industry had, until November 16, to guarantee that the level of locallyproduced components would be no lower than 70 per cent.

The entry of Spain into the Common Market and the increasing attractiveness to international capital of the Spanish police state has meant some revision of trading laws.

Sanchez-Bella, Franco's Minister of Information and Tourism, noted this at a Press conference after the weekly Ministerial Council meeting:

... the present economic situation in Europe, the scarcity of labour in many coun tries, the relative increase in costs provoked by the latest readjustments in the parity of many currencies, are objective circumstances which incline many world-wide firms in the sector to consider the advantages of establishing in Spain their new production... especially in the intermediary situation before Spain's full integration in the Common Market, aspects which must not be ignored by our economy' He was referring to the new Decree which Franco had signed relating to the investment in car production in Spain which followed on the decision ot Henry ford to launch production in Spain.

The new Decree reduces the percentage of nationally-produced components used by car manufacturers to 50 per cent and demands that investment shall not be less than 10,000 million pesetas (£66m), and that at least two-thirds of the units produced must be exported.

As an added softener to those existing companies in Spain, the new arrivals may not sell on the Spanish market more than 10 per cent of the total number new cars registered in Spain in the preceding year.

Henry Ford II is well-known for his partiality to the family tradition of hatred of trade unions and was naturally thrilled by the illegality of all independent working - class organizations in Spain.

After three trips to Spain in under a year, which took him from the Basque provinces to Catalonia and to Madrid to confer with Industry Minisier de Letona, Prince ; us Carios, and the doddery diciator himself, Ford tool: a vital decision on a report which had been drawn up by Ford experts on investment in Europe. The experts opted for an extension of production in Germany or a new factory in Spain. The predictable outcome is that Ford will establish a factory in the region of Valencia, 200 miles to the south of Barcelona.

Investment to the tune of £90m will create 15,000 jobs in a factory with an annual production target of 300,000 cars. 90 per cent of this output will flood the European market When Ford was in Britain in 1971 on a tour of his factories he snorted angrily: coming increasingly dancle i wasn't bluffing either when I said • Ford's would re-invest elsewhere. We can't recommend any more capital investment in a country constantly dogged with labour problems.' His reactions to the sunny climes of Valencia, where cheap labour is abundant since the closure of the local shoemaking industry - following protectionist measures from Nixon — are clearly entirely favourable.

In the footsteps of Ford... the vice-president of General Motors, who was in Madrid recently, and the Japanese carmanufacturer "Toyota', which has just registered a Spanish company "Toyota Motor SA'.

The essential factor which will upset the monopolies' plans for Spain, their springboard into the EEC, is the revolutionary action of the Spanish working class.

In repeated strike actions in the huge plants which now border the roads leading out of Franco's cities, Spanish workers have shown, their determination to put an end to the Franco regime.

December 5, 1972