Actually, I thought of a (slightly) better possible reason for McCain to stumble like this: he might not have clearly understood what Ms Cuello was saying. That still wouldn't reflect well on McCain, since he would have to have not understood her three separate times, without once asking her to clarify. However, at least it wouldn't imply that McCain thinks Spain (a NATO ally, remember, with troops in Afghanistan) is our enemy; nor would it imply that McCain doesn't know which continent Spain is on.