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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, APRIL 5, 1985
the April 2, 1985 LOS ANGELES TIMES. Written by Stanley Meisler, it was
entitled, "Spain Swept by Euphoria on Entry to Common Market":
RONCESVALLES, Spain--Here in a famous pass through the Pyrenees
Mountains that had long been considered a southern border of Eu
rope, it is easy to understand why Spaniards are treating their
impending entry into the European Community as a momentous step
in their history.
A kind of euphoria has raced through the political life of Spain
ever since the announcement at the end of last week of the agree
ment on the entry of Spain and Portugal. King Juan Carlos I and
Queen Sophia honored Foreign Minister Fernando Moran and his
negotiating team with a reception at their palace. Juan Carlos
spoke movingly of "the emotion ! feel both as � Spaniard and � �
k.
"
�-
. . .
ABC, the most influential right-wing newspaper in Madrid, head
lined its main editorial "A Historic Day." El Pais, the most in
fluential left-wing newspaper in Madrid, headlined its main
editorial "Hallelujah for Europe."
ABC said the entry ranked
with such events in 20th Century Spanish history as the Civil War
and the restoration of democracy. El Pais said that entry will
"rupture � traditional isolation that has been hanging arou'na
� necks since the religious�" �he Middle Ages••••
As far as Spain is concerned, the entry into the Community, in
cluding the Common Market, has little to do with economics but
ever y thing to do with history and ps,fchology.
At long last,
Spaniards can feel themselves part of Europe••••
The history of separation was reinforced in the 20th Century by
40 years of dictatorship under Generalissimo Francisco Franco.
Franco, the only fascist dictator to survive World War II, was
the pariah of Europe, and Spain became more isolated than ever.
Many Spaniards now feel that full entry into the European Com
munity--a first concrete step into Europe--will consecrate the
democratic system that has taken hold in Spain since Franco's
death in November, 1975.
A feature article in the April 2, 1985 CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR, written
by Kathy White, probed both the historical significance of Spain's
acceptance into the contemporary Western European family of nations as well
as its expected problems of adjustment to the EC system:
Seven hundred years of Moorish presence, 100 years as a supreme
world power, 400 years of darkness and isolation, and now it can
be said: Europe. That is how many Spaniards see the main land
marks of their history••••
The Socialist government of Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez, all
the political parties, the press, and it seems most of those
Spaniards who have been abroad have hailed the event as an in
eluctable [inevitable] step in Spain's development. However, •••
many Spaniards, for whom Europe is a hazy concept anyway, are be