Salt Lake Tribune | 1918-09-22 | Page 33 | Spain is hotbed of German Espionage

SPAIN IS HOTBED OF GERMAN ESPIONAGE Spies on Shore Aro Charged With Aiding Aid-ing Hun Submarines to Sinfc .Spanish Ships. By Universal Service. ! MADRID, Sept. 21. Spain is a hotbed i of German espionage and intrigue. Sen-l sational charges are rife that even some ' Spanish local officials are in th pay of I the German government, with scores of j other Germans, and Spaniards. It has been the constant complaint of j well-informed Spaniards, especially those who dwell near the coast, that the Ger-i man submarines which destroy Spanish 1 ships in contemptuous disregard of Span- : ish neutrality are aided by these Spanish and German spies on shore. Tt Is also charged that the Germans and their I friends have organised a complete sys- ! tern of espionage from Ayamonte, at the1 Portuguese frontier on the southwest, to j Palamos, on the northwest, and that the Canaries and the Balearic islands are , particularly busy centers of submarine activity. ' I AH this is commonly said and generally general-ly believed, but except in flagrant capes, such as the escape of the U-293 from Ca-lais Ca-lais or the' discovery of the submarine ! depot at Ca-rtegena, causing an outburst of indignation in the Liberal presti and compelling the notice of the government, but little attention is paid to these violations vio-lations of Spanish neutrality. - . j . A colored poster, recently was circulated circu-lated showing that nearly a quarter of the Spanish mercantile marine has been destroyed and over fifty Spanish sailors killed by . German submaxlne3. The suspicious torpedoing of the French vessel Provence, off the northeast coast recently led to the allegation that the. port commandant at Palamos, conveyed con-veyed timely information as to the sailing sail-ing of ships and their cargoes to the German spy chiefs. He is now in prison, awaiting trial.