The Spanish State is a nation located in the Iberian peninsula. It is ruled by Generalissimo Francisco Franco in a quasi-fascist regime, which is undergoing a process of slow liberalisation, much like its contemporary Italy. Another similarity between the two mediterranean states is that while Spain is a monarchy, true power lies in Franco and his cronies. When the Cold War broke out, Francisco's administration chose to remain neutral for a simple reason; the Neo-Socialist Iberian Worker's Committee, a terrorist group which has a large presence across Catalonia and the Spanish Pyrenees, the last remnant of the Spanish Republic which he smothered in 1939. Because of Soviet threats to support this organisation with weapons, training and intelligence should Spain approach the west, this southern European nation has treaded very carefully on the line it walks.