Sania Ramel Airport welcomed him and Franco assumed command of the Spanish Army in Morocco. They held an improvised conference around the plane. The most important contribution of the Sania Ramel airfield to the Nationalist war effort during the Spanish Civil War was its role in the airlift that flew most of the Army of Africa into mainland Spain. It was the world's first long-range combat airlift. At that time, the rebels in Spanish Morocco were being blocked by the Spanish fleet which remained mostly loyal to the government and the Army of Africa, the only professional army in Spain, was key to
Sania Ramel Airport Franco's cousin), refused to join the uprising against the government of the Republic. Nevertheless, lacking reinforcements from Madrid, he had to surrender to the rebels after a few hours of combat (he would be subsequently executed in August by the new Nationalist authorities in the Mount Hacho Fortress in Ceuta; Franco did nothing to prevent it). Before surrendering the base, De la Puente managed to render useless all the Breguet bombers parked there. On the following day, 19 July, the de Havilland Dragon Rapide flying Francisco Franco from the Canary Islands landed in Sania Ramel, where the senior rebel officers