| Content Description | Reports on a discussion he has had with Marshal Concha on Anglo-Spanish relations and Concha's view that England has behaved unreasonably towards Spain; Spanish grievances include the war, the debt, the Slave Trade and opposing the declaration of Spain as a Great Power; he [Buchanan] drew up a memorandum in response to this; the General listened to this in a friendly manner, and his dominant idea was the wish of the Emperor of the French to secure the alliance of Spain and render Spanish policy subservient to his own; the General discussed the sacrifices made by the French in order to secure Spanish goodwill; discusses the French Emperor's alleged involvement in the Carlist rebellion and Iberian Unification.
General Concha suspected that the French Emperor, in encouraging Spain to build up her navy, was hoping to undermine the capabilities of the Spanish army; the General thinks that the Emperor is annoyed that his advances to Spain have come to nothing, but that England is doing everything possible to promote a French-Spanish alliance by inflammatory anti-Spanish articles in the English press; he [Buchanan] stated that as these articles only referred to the Slave Trade and Spanish debt, Spain had only herself to blame; the General then complained that the new wine duties favoured France; they discussed difficulties between the two countries over Cuba; he is opposed to police supervision of the Cuban estates; he favours the suggestion that Britain, Spain and the U.S.A. come to an agreement about blockading the Cuban coast.
Although Marshal Concha is not a member of the Spanish Government, he is well acquainted with its views; he [Buchanan] has discussed Anglo-Spanish relations with Marshal O'Donnell, and the tone of the British press; they discussed the construction of ships in the British and French navies. |