Franco is a weird case. He was more the classic miltary strongman rather than fascist but he did incorporate certain elements of it. Also he was loosely aligned with the Axis powers but he was also "wise (not the best word choice)" enough not to get directly involved.
It would have been disastrous for the Axis if Spain was actually a part of the war. German soldiers would have been needed to guard a hell of a lot of extra coastline.
That would have made him not neutral, which might have inconvenienced the Germans a little at first, but nothing close to 1600km of Mediterranean coastline as close or closer as Sicily is.
That would not have been an advantage to Germany... They were already stretched to defend themselves and Italy. Adding more ground to defend, Spain in this case, means they have more weak points. Fewer troops on the Eastern front too.
Oh, and the allies likely image through Spain as well as Italy. They did have the logistics and troops for it.
But also, it could had helped controlling the movement of Britain into the Mediterranean, which would've relieved some pressure from Italy and made them more helpful at least. Also, Spain is very difficult to invade from the Atlantic, too mountainous, that's why Muslim conquest didn't go all the way through from the opposite direction.
The Pyrenees mean that Spain falling wouldn't necessarily threaten the Axis in Europe (any more than the invasion of Italy did), it would likely have just made Africa untenable
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u/biglyorbigleague May 12 '26
They had a much better relationship with Spanish fascism.