The Situation in Spain The defeat of General Franco's attempt
to recapture Teruel is for the moment certain ; " the Teruel brooch," which, he announced .at the New Year, had clasped " the chain of victories of the year now ended " has pricked him severely, and General Queipo de Llano in Seville is reduced to impotent abuse of the Nationalist forces in the town. The Government is in complete possession of Teruel, Colonel Rey and the Nationalist garrison have surrendered without disgrace, and the Republican troops have even retaken some of the positions on the Tooth of Teruel from which they were driven three weeks ago. It is difficult to under- estimate the value of the Government's victory ; its effects abroad may be measured by the general revision of opinion on the war in almost every country, varying from admissions on the Right that the Government may still win to assertions on the Left that they will win in the next few months. More significant, perhaps, is a statement by Sefior Portela Valladares, the Right-Centre Prime Minister who left Spain on the outbreak of the war and voluntarily returned to Valencia in the summer, asserting his belief in the justice of the Government's cause and his certainty of their victory. Apart from its results in raising the Government's morale and in upsetting General Franco's plans, the battle for Teruel must also have effects on General Franco's allies in a war that may now turn against them. Certainly General Franco's prestige, and by consequence theirs, has never been lower since he failed to take Madrid over a year ago, and something must be done if it is to recover. * * * *
