For almost a millennium, the relationship between Spain and Britain has been…complicated.
Wars, alliances, propaganda, it’s been a love-hate relationship which has included as much admiration for one another as it has rivalry.
The two countries are now undoubtedly friends: 400,000 Brits live in Spain, 300,000 Spaniards call the UK home, and there are more flights between Spain and the UK than any other two countries in the world.
But when patriotism comes knocking, there’s one subject that always comes up: Who Gibraltar should belong to.
It’s the primary source of diplomatic tensions between the two nations, and it can be a stumbling block when Spanish and UK leaders sit down at the negotiating table.
Currently there are four-way talks which also include Gibraltar’s leader and the EU meant to decide The Rock’s post-Brexit status, negotiations which have gone on for eight years after the referendum and which perfectly encapsulate how complex the Gibraltar matter is.
And it’s not just in politics that the issue rears its ugly head. When Spain’s Euro 2024 winning footballers celebrated their triumph over England last July, the chants turned to Gibraltar es Español (Gibraltar is Spanish).
While many Spaniards see the phrase as a relatively harmless piece of throwaway rhetoric, for Gibraltarians it’s a direct attack on their identity and sovereignty.
In this article we will not be taking sides nor aim to offer a solution to an age-old problem that scores of politicians have been unable to solve.
Instead we will lay out why Spanish, British and crucially Gibraltarians believe this tiny 6.8 km2 territory at the southernmost point of the Iberian Peninsula should either remain as is or change its status.
The arguments in favour of Gibraltar remaining British
Britain has the legal claim
In purely legal terms, Gibraltar es Británico – Gibraltar is British.
It has been ever since 1713, when it was ceded to Britain in perpetuity as part of the Treaty of Utrecht. Per the treaty, there is nothing that could legally change British sovereignty of The Rock without the approval of Gibraltarians (more on that below).
The Treaty of Utrecht ended the War of Succession, and the British and French divided up Spanish territories in its aftermath. Menorca was also ceded to Britain as part of the treaty, but the Brits gave it back to Spain in 1802 as part of the Treaty of Amiens.
READ ALSO: When Menorca was British – Eight things you should know
The will of the people
Many people would argue that if anyone should decide whether Gibraltar is British or Spanish, it should be the Gibraltarians themselves (known as Llanitos), expressing their legal right to self-determination.
And they have, twice: one in a 1967 referendum, when Gibraltarians voted 99 percent in favour of remaining part of the UK; and then again in 2002, on a referendum on joint-sovereignty between Spain and the U.K, which it rejected by a 99 percent margin… again.
Though many have Spanish family or friends and spend time crossing back and forth across the border (known as La Línea) Llanitos are proud British passport holders who have voted overwhelmingly to remain British at any opportunity they’ve had by overwhelming majorities.
Pride in sense of Britishness
Take a stroll down Gibraltar’s Main St. and you’d be forgiven for thinking you were in the UK.
Whether it be the typical pubs, the Marks and Spencers and Natwest bank branches, or even the fish and chip shops, despite the Mediterranean climate Gibraltar feels distinctly British.
Speak to locals and you’ll see how much pride they take in being British. Many have family in Britain, have worked or studied there, have business ties there, and maintain regular personal and cultural ties with the ‘motherland’.
It has its own culture that is different to Spain
That said, obviously Gibraltar isn’t exactly the same as Britain. But, if anything, the fact there’s a strong and unique Gibraltarian identity only reinforces the point that it isn’t Spanish.
Stop in any of Gibraltar’s pubs at the weekend and you’ll soon find yourself watching English football, drinking English beer, while chatting to a bloke named Bill or Tony with an authentic British accent.
The language spoken by some there, Llanito, is a fluid Spanglish-like mix of British English and Andaluz Spanish. That locals can speak Spanish and switch to fluent Llanito doesn’t make them any less British, and it definitely doesn’t make them Spanish.
Spanish rule over Ceuta and Melilla
Spain makes claims to Gibraltar but does so from somewhat of a hypocritical position, some commentators claim. Spain also still has overseas territory that descend from colonial days – namely Ceuta and Melilla, known as ‘autonomous cities’ in Spanish legal speak but completely surrounded by Morocco otherwise.
If Gibraltar is Spanish, some Gibraltarians and Brits argue that by that logic both Ceuta and Melilla are Moroccan. The argument by Spain is that Morocco was formed as a nation in 1956 and that the Spanish controlled these exclaves in northern Africa centuries before then, and many years before Gibraltar became British.
READ ALSO: Why are Ceuta and Melilla Spanish?
The arguments in favour of Gibraltar being Spanish
Territorial claim
Former correspondent for The Times, Tunku Varadarajan, wrote a few years ago for the Hoover Institution that Spain essentially views Gibraltar as existing in “a state of suspended Spanishness.” This is a good way to think about Spain’s claims on the territory: that it was Spanish, and should (or will) be again.
Spain generally doesn’t question the Treaty of Utrecht itself. Rather, its claims on Gibraltar are territorial, and basically that it’s geographically part of Spain, should be returned, and that Gibraltar has expanded on the terms outlined in the Treaty of Utrecht (more on that below).
A statement on Gibraltar from the Spanish government, outlines the position pretty clearly: “Gibraltar is not an integral part of the United Kingdom; it is a British colony on Spanish territory. Spain claims that this territory should be returned to it and fully upholds the provisions of the United Nations on this issue.”
“According to the UN, Gibraltar is a ‘non-self-governing territory pending decolonisation’. Furthermore, it points out that this decolonisation should be carried out through bilateral negotiations between Spain and the United Kingdom, negotiations that the UN has been recommending without interruption since 1965.”
So, in short, Spain believes Gibraltar is a former colonial territory on Spanish spoil that, as part of the decolonisation process, should be returned to Spain.
Territorial waters and airspace
This territorial claim extends into the surrounding waters in Spain’s view. Essentially, the Spanish claim sovereignty on most if not all the water surrounding ‘The Rock’.
The Spanish Foreign Ministry states on its website that although Gibraltar was ceded to Britain, it argues that only “the city and castle of Gibraltar together with its port, defences and fortresses belonging to it” were ceded, not “the adjacent waters or the overlying airspace,” which, it argues, were “not ceded by Spain and has always remained under Spanish sovereignty.”
Spain claims that British control of some surrounding waters (in reality, a very small area) or territory not included in the treaty (more on that below), constitutes what the government calls “the continued de facto occupation by the British” and therefore “does not meet the requirements of international law for the acquisition of sovereignty.”
A UN decolonisation report outlining Spain’s position with regards to surrounding waters described it as the following:
“Spain had ceded to the United Kingdom only the town and castle of Gibraltar, together with the port (with its internal waters only), fortifications and forts belonging thereto. Spain had never ceded territorial waters; the alleged ‘illegal incursions into British waters’ were thus merely routine activities of Spanish vessels in Spanish waters.”
The alleged ‘illegal incursions into British waters’ mentioned here are an issue that flare up periodically every few years, whether it be Spanish police or fishermen straying into Gibraltarian waters.
The isthmus (and airport)
Equally, the isthmus is another disputed area where Spain may have more of a legal claim. An isthmus is a thin strip of land that connects two territories. In the case of Gibraltar it’s a thin 800 metre strip of land that connects Gibraltar with mainland Spain.
Spain basically claims this section of land is occupied.
Per the Spanish Foreign Ministry: “Spain has always stressed that the occupation of the isthmus is illegal and contrary to international law and, therefore, has always demanded its unconditional return. Spain does not recognise the occupation of the isthmus or the fence as a border.”
Essentially the Spanish argument is that yes, although the Treaty of Utrecht did cede Gibraltar to the British, Britain has since expanded beyond the territory outlined in the treaty.
Crucially, this isthmus contains Gibraltar airport, one of the main ticking points for the seemingly never-ending Brexit negotiations. Eight years after the referendum, Spain, Britain, the EU and Gibraltar are still yet to make a deal finalising Gibraltar’s post-Brexit status.
For those interested, Llanitos voted to Remain in the EU by a whopping 96 percent majority.
READ MORE: Why has Gibraltar still not reached a Brexit deal with Spain?
‘Occupation’ and displacement
Spain also claims that by occupying Gibraltar, Britain has displaced what it views as the ‘original inhabitants’ of The Rock. In 2012, Spain’s representative to the United Nations made this point:
“Spain also wishes to recall that the Spanish population, the original inhabitants of the territory, were forced to leave, which is why my government does not accept that the present inhabitants, taken there by the occupier to prodive support to its military garrison, should intend to decide on the fate of a territory that does not belong.”
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