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The Spanish men’s national football team took to the streets of Madrid to celebrate after beating England 2-1 on Sunday to win a record-breaking fourth European Championship title.
Captain Alvaro Morata and Manchester City midfielder Rodri led the team in cheering “Gibraltar belongs to Spain” (“Gibraltar belongs to Spain”), much to the delight of thousands of adoring fans.
But the song soon sparked a diplomatic crisis, with several leading figures, including Gibraltar Chief Minister Fabian Picardo, condemning the song as “putrid” and “an old cliché from the days of General Franco.”
Although Gibraltar is located on a rocky outcrop at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, its 2.6 square miles of territory and 30,000 residents are all British and have a history dating back more than 300 years.
The Rocks is very British, using the pound as its currency, having pubs serving roast dinners and fish and chips, using red postboxes and being home to Morrisons, Matalan and Marks & Spencer.
But why is this happening?
The formation of this special corner of Britain, just 7.7 nautical miles from the coast of Africa, has a long history that dates back more than three centuries.
One of the UK’s 14 overseas territories, Gibraltar has no capital gains, wealth, sales or VAT taxes, making it a lucrative haven with a GDP per capita of £85,614, the second highest in the world.
In the early 18th century, Spain and Gibraltar were ruled by Charles II, who was known as “the Possessed” due to a range of serious physical and mental illnesses.
His death in 1700 without an heir created a power vacuum that the great European powers attempted to fill.
War soon broke out, and in August 1704, British soldiers, fighting alongside their Dutch allies, captured the Rock of Gibraltar, which was of great military importance due to its altitude and location at the narrowest part of the Strait of Gibraltar.
The war continued until 1713, when the conflict was resolved by the Treaty of Utrecht between Britain and Spain.
Article 10 of the Treaty of Utrecht provided that Gibraltar would forever belong to Britain – the document signed by both parties formally stipulated that “the town, castle and fortifications shall forever belong to Britain without any exception or hindrance.”
Under this decree, Gibraltar was henceforth considered British territory, and its terms were reaffirmed by the Treaty of Paris in 1763, which ended the Seven Years’ War between England and France, and the Treaty of Versailles in 1783, which ended the American Revolutionary War, in which both Britain and Spain had interests.
Since then, Spain has claimed territorial sovereignty over Gibraltar, despite signing a binding decree confirming Gibraltar’s permanent British status.
They even launched an unsuccessful siege that lasted four years, until 1783.
Fascist leader General Franco, like current far-right politicians, believed that Gibraltar belonged to Spain and completely closed the border with Gibraltar until 1985, when Spain joined the European Union.
In 1967, a referendum was held to decide whether Gibraltar voters wanted to remain part of the United Kingdom or accept Spanish rule.
Of the 12,233 voters (more than 96% of registered voters), only 44 said they wanted to become Spanish.
In 2002, voters who believed Gibraltar should belong to Spain suffered another embarrassing defeat, with 99% rejecting shared sovereignty.
So while many Spaniards wanted to capture Gibraltar, they would have to go against the tide of history and public opinion.
Many also tend to forget that Spain owns Ceuta and Melilla, two strategic enclaves on the North African coast that were handed to Spain under the 1668 Treaty of Lisbon in a manner strikingly similar to Britain’s control of Gibraltar.
If Gibraltar belongs to Spain, as the national football team sings, shouldn’t Ceuta and Melilla also be returned to Morocco?
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