There might be another thing to consider. If 40-60 years ago there were a number of crappy Spanish guns imported the likelihood is that they're long since worn out/broken. The "soft steel" poorly-regulated, bad-springs guns would have long since vanished from the active shooting scene. What's left is good.
I have bought a number of sidelocks from the 70s and 80s and they are well-used and quite robust. They handle a lot better than American guns and I like them a lot. They needed cosmetic work on the stocks/forends but that was it.
A few years ago a lot of these guns were appearing in the US market - they seem to have dried up.
