World Notes SPAIN

Throughout 18 months of negotiations, Washington kept sweetening the pot, offering to reduce its fighter fleet at Spain's Torrejon Air Base outside Madrid first by 10%, and later by 20%. Each time, Spanish negotiators countered with a demand for complete withdrawal. Last week the U.S. blinked, announcing that 72 F-16 fighters will be pulled out of Spain by 1991 at the latest.

It was a reluctant concession for the U.S., which regards the fighters as a crucial link in the defense of NATO's southern flank. But Socialist Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez insisted that the withdrawal was necessary to comply with a promise to reduce the U.S. military presence in Spain in return for passage of a 1986 referendum endorsing the country's continued membership in NATO. Agreement on the F-16 issue should also smooth the way for a new treaty that will allow continued U.S. access to other bases on Spanish soil.

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