U.S., Spain to Continue Talks Despite F-16 Rift : State Dept. Says 2 Nations Still Seek Accord on Renewal of Treaty Permitting American Bases

The U.S. and Spanish governments said Thursday that, despite continuing differences over the future of F-16 warplane bases, the two countries will resume negotiations next month over renewal of a 32-year-old treaty permitting U.S. military operations in Spain.

“The negotiations have not been broken off,” State Department spokeswoman Phyllis Oakley said. “Our understanding remains that the Spanish government seeks to reach a base agreement with the United States and to maintain a strong long-term defense relationship.”

‘Nothing Has Changed’

In Madrid, Javier Solana, the Spanish government’s chief spokesman, said in a radio interview: “The negotiations continue and there will be another round soon, in the first weeks of January. Nothing has changed, at least in the view of the Spanish government.”

It was one of the few times during 18 months of often acrimonious negotiations that Washington and Madrid were in such close agreement about anything. Oakley and Solana were responding to a report in Thursday’s editions of the Washington Post--a report carried by The Times--that Spanish Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez had broken off the talks and told the United States that the 72 F-16s must be withdrawn in 3 1/2 years.

Despite the denials of a breach in the negotiations, the two sides remain far apart. Oakley acknowledged that there has been no change in Spain’s long-held position that the F-16s ultimately must be removed from Torrejon air base near Madrid.

“Despite differences in our views, we value Spain as an ally . . . “ she said.

The Torrejon base is a sensitive issue in Spain. The facility is considered a symbol of President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s military cooperation agreement with Spanish dictator Francisco Franco in 1953, which helped Franco break out of the diplomatic isolation that had gripped Spain since World War II.

For that reason, the base is an irritant to Gonzalez and other Spanish leaders who resisted Franco during his lifetime and are now determined to move Spain as far as possible away from his policies.

Its proximity to Madrid makes it far more controversial than other U.S. facilities in Spain, including the naval base at Rota. The United States maintains 10,500 troops at three air bases, including Torrejon, at the naval station at Rota and at nine communication posts in Spain.

The seventh round of negotiations in Madrid on Nov. 5 and 6 produced no progress on renewal of the base rights treaty, which expires next May. A round scheduled earlier this month was postponed by mutual agreement to permit more time for preparation. Those talks are now expected to occur sometime next month.

The United States has offered to remove 24 of the 72 F-16s from Torrejon, but the Spanish government says it wants all the jets out. Spain formally notified the United States on Nov. 10 that it would let the defense agreement lapse. But U.S. officials said at that time that the action was a formality intended to preserve Spain’s bargaining leverage.

Automatic Renewals

Like all of the treaties governing U.S. military bases around the world, the Spanish agreement is renewed automatically until it is replaced by a new pact or until either side gives six months’ notice of cancellation. U.S. officials said that it is not uncommon for host countries to act as Spain did and file cancellation notices six months before the expiration of base rights treaties.

The United States has not been required to remove a major overseas base since 1966, when France expelled all foreign facilities and withdrew from the unified command of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.