ABSTRACT
In June 1968, when the United Nations General Assembly in a majority resolution recommended the signature and ratification of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), Spain abstained from voting. The Spanish press, in blazing headlines, asserted that Gibraltar was in fact a primary reason for Spain’s abstention. Supplies of enriched uranium to Spain were assured not only through the United States, which enjoyed a complete monopoly of the Spanish market until the end of the 1970s, but also through the Soviet Union and the EURODIF plant. The Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Fernando Moran, also said that he was in favour of Spain building nuclear-propelled submarines in view of their effectiveness shown during the Falklands/Malvinas War, but stated that Spain had no intention of manufacturing nuclear weapons. Since then, things have gone on as before, but all nuclear installations in Spain are now subject to safeguards, which affords a reasonable guarantee of non-proliferation.
