A spokesman of the Spanish department of navy refuted a day earlier that Spain wanted to negotiate again with the United Kingdom about the building of frigates. What the minister earlier said was not changed. This minister was admiral Pedro Nieto Antuñez (1) who announced on 1 July that Spain stopped with negotiating about the orders of more as 100.000.000 Dutch guilders. Also was the whole program reconsidered and nothing was decided. Earlier said a Spanish spokesman that negotiations with other countries like the USA, France, Sweden and the Netherlands continued. Spain wanted to modernize her fleet.
The edition dated Saturday 2 January 1965 wrote that the Spanish department of navy announced last Thursday evening in Madrid that the USA agreed to help Spain with the building of 5 guided missile frigates like France agreed to help with the building of 2 submarines. The total building costs of this program to be completed in the coming 8 years were around 300.000,000 Dutch guilders.
Note
1. Pedro Nieto Antúnez (18 August 1898 Ferrol, La Coruña-6 December 1978 Madrid) later by Franco temporarily appointed as his successor. He was minister of marine in the period July 1962-October 1969 and responsible for a extensive naval shipbuilding program of 150 ships included two aircraft carriers. In 1963 was this program decreased to normal proportions including the purchase of a light cruiser and 5 Leander-class frigate. The British prime minister Wilson of the Labour Party refused the delivery to Franco forcing Spain to build her own frigates using the American Knox-design the so-called Baleares-class. This class consisted of the Andalucia, Asturias, Baleares, Cataluna and the Extremadura, all commissioned between 1974 and 1976 and decommissioned between 2005 and 2009.
