SPAIN & MOROCCO

Evening Post, Issue 17, 20 July 1936, Page 9

SPAIN & MOROCCO

CHANGE IN GOVERNMENT

GIRAL AS HEAD

STRONGLY ANTI-FASCIST

United I'R.ss Association—l).v Electric Tclo-

graph—Copyright. (Received July 20, 9.30 a.m.)

MADRID, July 19.

Senor Quiroga's Cabinet has resigned and a new Government has been formed. At. first this was headed by Senor Martinez Barrio, a former linotype operator and Speaker of the Cortes, who founded the Republic Union Party. Subsequently the Republican former Navy Minister, Senor Jose Giral, a professor of chemistry, who was born in Cuba, superseded Senor Barrio, who resigned the Premiership. General Sebastiano Pozas, the new Minister of the Interior, announced _ llmt the Government is strongly anti-Fascist. Socialists have been excluded from the new Cabinet, which, with five exceptions, is the same as the previous one. An official communique issued before the change of Government took place stated that part of ■ the army in Morocco has risen against the Republic, perpetrating the criminal act of rebellion against the legitimately constituted power. "ALL QUIET IN MADRID." Senor Juan Moles, Minister of the Interior, in a broadcast speech, declared that the rebels seized the radio station at Ceuta, from which they were issuing false news, purporting to corns from the Government station •at Seville, including a report that revolutionaries had occupied the Ministries! at Madrid, seizing himself and the Minister of War. . Senor Moles added: "On the contrary, all is quiet in Madrid." The Under-Secretary of the Interior announced that the Foreign Legation at Ceuta, supported1 by native troops and other units whose identity so far is not known, attacked loyal troops, civilians, and aerodromes, but that the movement had been confined to Melilla and Ceuta. Troops, the air force, and naval men "were mobilising to fight the rebels, who were still in possession of. strategic points. AItREST OF GENERALS ORDERED. While the rebel movement 'in Morocco and Canary Islands persists, the movement inside Spain appears to be .weakening. The Government retains, control of communications, except the Seville wireless station. The Government has ordered the arrest of several generals, including General Franco, Governor of the Canary Islands.1 President Azana has signed a decree disbanding all army units participating in the revolt. Leftists, with Government permission, broadcast a statement assuring the Government of. their support It was admitted in a broadcast address that a military rising had occurred in Barcelona. Soldiers took possession of {he streets after- the declaring of martial law. The air force remained loyal, and was assisted by loyal elements against the rebels. It is officially admitted that the rebel movement, is not confined to Morocco. POSITION SUMMARISED. The position generally is believed to be as follows:—The military rising in Morocco, which spread to many parts of Spain, has been generally overcome. Airmen bombed several towns where the garrisons rebelled, including Seville, Ceuta, and Melilla. Five generals have been degraded. There was no rising in Madrid, but there was desultory shooting. A message, from Tangier states that rebels still hold the key points of Tetijan, Melilla, Larache, and Ceuta, but the territory adjoining Tangier is all quiet at present. British refugees from Larache say that there was severe fighting. The Government is using the weapon of a general strike to kill the insurrection, and orders have been broadcast to trade unions to strike in any area where Fascists have declared a state of war. For instance, the railway unions have ordered their members to join the proletariat in defence of the hberty of the Republic against criminal fascist subversion." The Government announces that civil servants in Malaga, Seville, and other centres are supporting • the Government. . A message from Barcelona' says that benor Luis Companys, President of the Government of Catalonia, was all night rebels which was attacked by A_ destroyer has arrived at Malaga to protect the narrow seas between Spain ancl Spanish Morocco, where foreign legionaries and Moorish troops still control many parts. A Gibraltar message states that rebel troops are marching to Seville after disembarking at Cadiz. A REBEL BROADCAST. A broadcast from Seville, as is to be expected considering that the town is m the hands of the rebels, says that the new Government is as bad as the previous one, and that the new Minister of War will be shot as soon as possible. A destroyer bombarded the barracks at La Linea and a white flag was hoisted. A ship which arrived from Algeciras reports that the rebels are gaining ground. An official announcement says that rebel troops attacked the prison at Barcelona today and were repulsed by police and warders. At Cadiz rebels are besieging the offices in which the Governor-General is housedAn Englishwoman, Mrs. Bower, returning to Gibraltar from Algeciras was wounded in the shoulder when rioters shot at and wrecked her car. General Cabanellas, commandant of the Madrid garrison, has been dismissed.

Loyal troops are temporarily in the ascendant in the hinterland. A Gibraltar message says that after a period of mob law, in which Fascists' houses and cars were burnt, two British destroyers are standing by in case of necessity arising for evacuating British subjects who have left summer

residences in Spanish territory and taken refuge at Gibraltar.

Rebels at the Canary Islands besieged the civil Governor and several members of Cabinet in the Governor's palace.

The Las Pelmas Workers' Union lias declared a general strike in support of the Government.