In parallel with the work on the construction and repair of ships for its navy, Francoist Spain was busy designing new ones. In 1938, five destroyer projects and several cruiser projects with displacements ranging from 7,920 to 19,000 tons were worked through. The largest was Project 138 for "a cruiser with a speed of 36 knots, " providing several main battery options. One of the options involved the construction of a cruiser equipped with turrets from battleship España. But the most common option envisaged three triple-gun turrets with gun calibers ranging from 203 to 254 mm.