The Iberian Peninsula encompasses the territories
of Portugal, Spain, Andorra, as well as part of France and Great Britain…the latter,
often being forgotten. But, while the homeland of the former British
Empire floats a bit further north than the peninsula, what some don’t always remember
is that just below the borders of Spain sits a tiny, yet crucial, piece of land known as
Gibraltar. And Gibraltar, belongs to the British. Looking at a map of Europe, however, begs
the question: why does Britain own Gibraltar? Why isn’t it part of Spain instead?... First, let’s answer the second question. Gibraltar, at one point in time, actually
was a part of Spain up until the aftermath of the Spanish War of Succession at the start
of the 18th century. The trouble came when the Spanish King Charles
The Second died heirless, triggering a brawl for the throne. King Charles had hoped to see Philip The Fifth
from the house of Bourbon take his place upon death, despite Philip being the grandson of
Louis The Fourteenth and, of course, French. This pick, however, immediately set off alarm
bells for Spain’s neighbors as no one wanted to see Spain and France having such a connection
and shared continental influence. The Dutch Republic, British Empire, and even
the Holy Roman Empire, all found particular concern in the proposal, and thus, war broke
out. With nearly all of Europe against Spain and
France by now, Spain was swiftly invaded and Gibraltar became an early target for the united
Anglo-Dutch naval fleet. The town quickly fell to the allied forces
and when Spain attempted to retake the coastal territory, they found no luck. With the Spanish population of the territory
having fled inland and the Anglo-Dutch troops unwilling to budge, Spain eventually agreed
to terms within the Peace Treaty of Utrecht , which granted Gibraltar, officially, to
the British so long as they would fully withdraw from the war. Nevertheless, despite agreeing to leave the
territory to the Brits permanently, within the remainder of the century, Spain would
attempt to retake Gibraltar not once, but twice - the second time being while the British
were preoccupied with the American Revolutionary War. Still, the territory remained in Britain’s
hands, and by now, the population was also becoming increasingly British. In a short time, there would be a desire on
the side of the population, not just the British government, to retain Gibraltar. Additionally, Spain was unable to attempt
another siege on the territory or even a push for ownership in negotiations following Britain’s
loss in the American Revolution since they, too, had lost some of their American territories,
such as Florida. In order to retake these territories, Spain
would have to compromise yet again on Gibraltar, despite its closer proximity to the homeland. And, as a result of this territorial connection,
Spain still insisted that Gibraltar should be Spanish… The following century would fail to see another
military attempt by Spain to retake Gibraltar, and the territory’s strategic importance
for the Brits was becoming rapidly more apparent, first as a naval base in the Napoleonic Wars
in the early 1800s, then in the following Crimean War mid-century. When the Suez Canal was later opened, Gibraltar
would yet again increase in relevance for Britain as it became an important point on
the sea route the British utilized. And yet, unrelentingly, Spain maintained their
declaration that Gibraltar must be Spanish. Britain furthermore solidified the ongoing
tensions between the two nations during the Spanish Civil War by first closing the border
between Gibraltar and Spain, in addition to bulking up the territory's defenses, including
building an airbase in the previously agreed upon neutral zone. It was actions like this that only strengthened
Spain’s stance that the Brits must be expelled from the Iberian Peninsula entirely… Then, with Francisco Franco’s rise to power,
it seemed even more certain that Spain would somehow find a way to retake Gibraltar. He was as determined as ever to wipe the British
stain off of Spain’s prestige, and Britain had pushed the boundaries all too far, according
to the new Spanish ruler. And soon, it seemed that Franco’s wish would
come true. With the outbreak of the second world war,
the German Fuhrer approached Spain’s leadership with a proposal: join the Axis, and we’ll
take Gibraltar for you. In a shocking turn of events though, Francisco
Franco said no. As badly as he wanted Gibraltar, he felt even
more strongly that joining the war alongside the Germans would bring one too many repercussions. Over in Gibraltar though, the war was not
treating the territory all that nicely. Most of the population was being evacuated,
but the British were still using Gibraltar as a strategic military base. This would, unfortunately, lead to the town
being bombed by none other than the French Air Force in the summer of 1940 in retaliation
for a prior strike on them by the British. Nevertheless, the territory remained widely
used by Allied efforts in the war and yet again, stayed in British hands. It seemed once more that Spain was out of
options for reversing the promise of the Treaty of Utrecht as the war came to an end. Despite Franco’s continued insistence that
Gibraltar would be returned to Spain, no progress was being made, and tensions were left unresolved. The only solution that some saw possible came
as a wave of decolonization swept across the globe. Many now began to wonder why Britain should
be allowed to maintain their Iberian territory, however, the old treaty was still getting
in the way. Subsequently, a referendum was called to allow
Gibraltar’s population to decide for themselves whether they’d like to remain British or
become Spanish. The results were stunning, with a whopping
12,138 Gibraltarians voting to remain a British territory as opposed to 44 votes in favor
of Spain. Thus, they remained British. Predictably, this angered Francisco Franco
greatly, but he would soon die, so his feelings had little relevance. Following his passing, relations between Spain
and Great Britain were finally improving, despite Spain still holding onto a certain
level of hope that they would one day regain the neighboring territory. This would eventually lead to new negotiations
in the early 2000s as Britain considered the idea of sharing ownership of Gibraltar with
Spain. Considering the results of the 1967 referendum,
however, the new consideration was also taken to a vote so the Gibraltarians could decide
their own fate once more. And, just as before, over 99% voted against
allowing Spain to have any amount of sovereignty over their territory in 2002. Spain would still try once more to push this
idea after 96% of Gibraltarian voters wanted to remain a part of the European Union during
the run-up to Brexit, but still, the people of Gibraltar denied Spain’s request. This births a new question altogether: why
do Gibraltarians want to remain British so badly? Well, by now, there is generally one simple
answer - because they are British. It has been over 200 years since the territory
was handed off to the British Empire, so those living in Gibraltar at the time of both referendums
were as British as Americans are American. Voting to rejoin Spain would be like the United
States voting to become a British colony; neither make much sense. The people no longer identify with their overlords
from the past, and the political turmoil and overall instability that changing sovereignty
in such a way could cause are far from worth it. Furthermore, due to the exodus of Spanish
inhabitants from the territory in the 18th century, most of Gibraltar’s citizens have
no connection to Spain at all. They’d have no reason to want to join Spain,
thus no reason to leave their British nationality behind. And due to these factors, in addition to the
previous referendum results which showed nearly 100% of the territory wanted to remain British,
it seems likely that Spain will never get Gibraltar back, regardless of how bad its
leaders may want to. Any transfer of ownership out of British hands
would likely have to come by force, and the chances of Spain going to war against the
United Kingdom just to seize Gibraltar are astronomically slim. So, in summation, Britain still possesses
Gibraltar because this has been the status of the territory for over 2 centuries. After capturing the town during the Spanish
War of Succession, the Treaty of Utrecht officially confirmed that Gibraltar would belong to Britain
permanently. With the evacuation of Spaniards from the
territory as well, the population quickly became British and thus saw no issue with
their new authority. As the years went on, Gibraltarians grew less
and less attached to Spain and stronger by the day in their British identities. By the time of the first referendum, the people
of Gibraltar were undoubtedly British and not the slightest bit Spanish. When a second referendum was held, Gibraltarians
confirmed this by denying Spain the chance to even control a share of the territory. And as previously stated, after the initial
failed attempts to militarily retake the region, it wouldn’t have been worth it for Spain
to go to war with the British over one tiny territory. The only diplomatic opportunities they had
been given to otherwise retake Gibraltar were shot down by referendum and by Francisco Franco
- though accepting Hitler’s deal would have also dragged Spain into armed conflict. Thus, Gibraltar remains British.
