End of the Experiment

Spain's Generalissimo Francisco Franco broke off his uneasy five-year ad venture into liberalism last week by clamping a state of emergency on his increasingly restive nation. The move came after fiery student demonstrations in Madrid and Barcelona; the regime charged that students had been misled by "wicked and ambitious persons" employing a "strategy aimed at producing an orgy of nihilism, anarchism and disobedience." Student unrest, however, was only part of the story. During the past sev eral years, the long quiescent opposition to Franco had taken on sufficient stat ure to cause serious worry among the conservatives in the regime. When the crackdown came, it was characteristically harsh.

Censorship of the press, abandoned nearly three years ago, was reinstated.

Once again police were given the right to search and make arrests without war rants. Major universities were closed.

In all, five articles of Spain's Bill of Rights were suspended for a 90-day period, and if trouble continues, Franco al most certainly will extend the state of siege for as long as he deems nec essary. Clearly, the Madrid government had been deeply impressed by the French explosion last May, and was determined to choke off any similar uprising.

"It is better to prevent than cure," said Information Minister Manuel Fraga Iribarne. "From this moment, the full weight of the law will fall on inciters of unrest and their followers."

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