It was necessary to maintain the utmost secrecy while arranging for all the Spanish garrisons to concentrate for embarkation, in defiance of French and Danes. Romana and Keats worked in concert, but the operation was extremely difficult. The various garrisons in Jutland were to seize vessels in the different harbours, and come to the island of Funen, where Romana had occupied the town of Nyborg on the Great Belt. Here Admiral Keats waited with his ships. All went well. The Jutland garrisons arrived and were embarked, in spite of some opposition from two Danish gunboats. The Spanish troops were taken to Gottenburg, where transports had been provided to convey them to their native country. They were landed at Santander. The Marquis de la Romana himself went to London to confer with the British Government. He accompanied Mr. Hookham Frere to Spain, who had been accredited as Envoy to the Central Junta. Both arrived at Coruña on October 20, 1808, and Romana proceeded to take command of the Spanish forces in Galicia. Here the indefatigable Majorcan maintained an unequal contest with Soult and Ney. Routed in February 1809 at Monterey, he still kept the field, aroused the whole country by his proclamations and by the sight of his patriotic zeal, and in the following April captured the French garrison at Villa Franca. Finding that Ney was collecting a great force to annihilate him, Romana crossed the mountains at the passes of Cienfuegos and marched into the Asturias. Leaving his army at Navia de Suara, the general went on to Oviedo to organise the civil government of the province. Ney then conceived a plan of surprising the troops at Navia de Suara and securing the person of Romana. He sent Kellermann by forced marches to Oviedo, but the Marquis was not to be caught. He galloped down to the port of Gijon with his staff and returned by sea to Galicia. His troops also retreated safely across the mountains. In 1809 Romana was appointed to be a member of the Central Junta at Seville, and he bade farewell to his faithful troops, who had escaped with him from Denmark and shared all his desperate campaigning work in Galicia. As a member of the Central Junta the Marquis drew up a very able State paper for the better government of the country, which had the concurrence both of Mr. Frere and of his successor, Lord Wellesley. In January 1810 he was appointed to command the Spanish army in Estremadura, where he did excellent service and saved Badajos at least for the time. When Lord Wellington retreated behind the lines of Torres Vedras, Romana joined him with four thousand men, and they then first became acquainted.