Franco y de Gaullelas relaciones hispano-francesas de 1958 a 1969

Abstract

This article analyzes the evolution of the relations �political, economic and cultural� between Franco�s Spain and De Gaulle�s France (1958-1969), after offering a review of Spanish-French relations during the forties and fifties. In regard to the political and economic differences between both countries, it was France that set the bilateral relations� guideline. Because of its dictatorial regime and its economic backwardness, Spain remained at the margins of De Gaulle�s foreign policy of Grandeur. Nevertheless, due to its economic potential, geographical proximity, and the long history of relations, it awakened great interest in French economic spheres, both public and private. Therefore, whereas the political relations remained almost inactive, the economic relations, sustained by the cultural ones, acquired a particular dynamism. French economic spheres established channels of communication that politicians did not always find, and acceded to a deep knowledge of the Spanish realities, playing an outstanding role in the bilateral approach at the end of the dictatorship and, from there, in the full normalization of relations in the democratic period.