As Dr. Frued and Wolf have so eloquently stated, Franco didn't refuse to co-operate with Hitler's plans in the Western Med out of some anti-nazi altruism: he simply weighed the chances for German victory against the US/UK and set his price for cooperation accordingly. Franco was always a pragmatist: accepting Axis aid when it suited him, and refusing to be held as 'owing' aid to the Axis when THEY needed it yet it was against his (and Spain's) interest. And, ultimately, it was probably in Spains's best interest that Franco's Phlangists won: A 'Republican' (aka 'Red'/'Socialist'/'Communist')Spain would not have been left in peace after WWII by the victorious Western Allies (aka 'Truman/'Eisenhower'). And Spain might have been left as weak and poor as Eastern Europe, rather than a nation able to accede to a market economy and pluralistic society.