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Fraga's policy of limited vote of thanks from the Spanish workers but with the contemptuous rejection it deserves.

The strike wave which began in Madrid in December has now spread throughout Spain. Virtually no town or city has been free from strike activity OI protest demonstrations in the last two weeks.

But the centre of events in the last two weeks has undoubtedly been Barcelona, Spain's second largest city and the birthplace of Spain's workers' movement. On at least three occasions in the last three weeks the centre of the city has been completely out of the control of the authorities for several hours as up to 100,000 demonstrators, demanding complete political amnesty and autonomy for Catalonia, have taken over the streets.

King Juan Carlos, the new smiling face of Spanish fascism, spent last week touring Barcelona and the rest of Catalonia. He was met not with a royal welcome but a general strike of all Barcelona's municipal workers, including the malino (which was attempted by the national police) but demonstrating in support of their own wage demands and occupying the City Hall!.

The government's reaction to this situation is an expression of its desperation. As in the case of the Madrid postal workers a month earlier it drafted the striking police and firemen into the army which means that anyone continuing the strike is liable to summary court martial.

The difficulty of maintaining the rigid fascist wage policy has been increased by an 11 per cent devaluation of the peseta forced on the regime by the worsening balance of payments situation. The devaluation will cause an immediate rise in the cost of living and can only provoke stronger resistance to the wage laws.

BRUTALITY

Fraga and Arias' only answers to the growing political crisis are police brutality, the militarisation of strikers and, most recently, sending the army to break up strikes.

They can only be overthrown by revolutionary methods - a lesson which the organisers of a trade union delegate conference in London on February 14th were anvinna te minneano A mostina af Councils and 50 shop steward committees) heard leaders Spain's two class collaborationis fronts (the CP dominate Democratic Junta and Socialis Party dominated Democrati Platform) call for th implementation of a programme o bourgeois democratic rights.

After listening to protus expressions of "solidarity" fror Jack Jones and Michael Foot (wh was represented at Franco' funeral by a fellow member of th Labour cabinet), delegates wer presented with two pious an toothless resolutions calling for a amnesty and trade union an democratic rights.

When amendments were pu calling for a black on all Spanis trade and a fight to force th Labour government to brea diplomatic links with Spain, th chairman, Ray Buckton of ASLEE refused to allow them to b discussed.

Jack Jones and Ray Buckton at in as strong a position as possible t put flesh on even the flimsy bone of the resolutions of thi conference by calling for a ban o Spanish goods by dock, transpor and rail workers.

Their refusal to do so at such crucial moment in the Spanis political struggle shows them to b as treacherous to the workers c Innin ne thor neo to the sinitere e

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concessions is being met not, as he hoped, with a deferential