General Franco begins his alliance with Hitler by stationing defensive troops along the French border. Hitler, as an act of good faith, sends Franco an additional 40,000 troops to help enforce Franco's southern border from potential Gibraltar attacks. General Franco then holds a council of his other highest ranking officers including Adolfo Hudera, called the Madrid Conference on January 26th, 1939. The decision is made that Portugal is limiting shipping routes to the U.S, a major supplier of oil to Spain, and that an agreement needs to be made. Franco then met with Salazar, the head of state in then Fascist Spain. Salazar was determined to remain quite neutral in the war, but denied Franco shipping access due to what many believe was personal pride. Franco declared war on Portugal on Febr