REBUILDING SPAIN "
Sta,—When I escaped from France in order to reach England I went through Spain and spent three months living in small farms (in many different parts of Spain) and in the slums of Barcelona and Madrid. I can indeed assume that I know the conditions under which the bulk of the Spanish people is living. Therefore I am sorry to say that the article of Sir Charles Bressey about " Rebuilding Spain " shocked me tremendously. It gives the impression of a battered country rising out of its ruins in a wonderful effort of reconstruction and improvement. True, as far as the town of Madrid is concerned, wonderful works have been started. The new buildings for public administrations Lx-cted on the Avenida del Generalissimo, for instance, and the new university built a few hundred yards away from the destroyed buildings of the former one are very well located and are planned with the greatest taste and luxury and skill. But to speak of them, and of them only, is remaining too much on the safe side of the question. Without offending anybody it should be possible not to mislead the reader and to say a few words about the appalling state in which the North Western belt of Madrid is still standing (or rather lying). If Sir Charles Bressey .mentions the new university he shciuld mention that the ruins of the old one are still untouched, and that the whole of these north-western suburbs look more like a battlefield than like a city. It is impossible not to notice that, apart from sweeping the streets, nothing has yet been done to repair the houses damaged during the war. Neither has anything been undertaken to help those who live in wrecked buildings because they cannot afford any other dwelling. As for the working-class lodgings, at least so per cent. of them present desperately miserable conditions. They are old and cheaply built, dirty, often cracked by the bombardments and not even rendered safe. The other 50 per cent. indeed are modern buildings where workers find cheap, Clean and comfortable accommodation. But it would be fair to mention that the great majority of these buildings were erected under the Republican regime in the early thirties.
It would also be fair to mention that the workers employed in this reconstruction scheme earn an average of to pesetas per day (purchase value equivalent roughly to four shillings). This reminds me of the beautiful task undertaken by the Vichy Government, namely, to build the Trans-Sahara railway, but employing for the job political prisoners (French or foreign) sentenced to hard labour by pro-Nazi tribunals. Anyhow, I do not think that the plans for a new London aim at rebuilding only the bombed churches and leaving the East End as it is, or to set up wonderful public buildings on the very site of the most damaged district without bothering about the dwellings of bombed-out families. That is unfortunately what is actually happening in Spain. But you cannot expect a distinguished visitor to Spain to start living in the slums of the country which welcomes him. This is why I thought suitable to point out to you the result of my own experience. Believe me. Yours
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