Background
The rock’s defensibility and numerous caves made it a Millionaires’ Row for prehistoric hominids. Indeed the finding of a fossilized female skull dated to some 60,000 years was the first evidence of Neanderthals ever brought to light: found in 1848, the cranium, dubbed Gibraltar Woman, currently lives in the British Museum. In later times the Phoenicians knew Gibraltar as Calpe and in Greek mythology it formed, along with Mount Ablya on the other side of the Straits, the twin Pillars of Hercules. The Phoenicians had a town called Carteia 3 km away at Gibraltar Bay, from where Julius Caesar left in AD 45 to defeat the Carthaginians at the Battle of Munda.
When the Moors crossed the Straits in AD 711 under Tarik, governor of Tanger, they named the rock after their leader; Jebel Tarik (the mountain of Tarik), which became Gibraltar. The settlement was founded in 1159 by the Almohads, who constructed defences, reservoirs and a mosque. Gibraltar stayed in Moorish hands until a surprise attack by the Spanish, led by Guzmán El Bueno in 1309, but in 25 years it was regained by the Moors under Sultan of Fez after a 4½-month siege.
The Moors were finally evicted from the Rock in 1462 by the Spanish led by the Duke of Medina Sidonia. The Spaniards, who added to the fortifications, were to stay for a further 240 years until the War of the Spanish Succession. Although Britain supported the Spanish against the French, Gibraltar was taken by a combined Anglo Dutch fleet in 1704 led by Admiral Rooke. The inhabitants were told that they had to support the British-preferred claimant to the Spanish throne, Archduke Charles of Austria, or leave the Rock. Many did leave and founded a settlement at nearby San Roque, expecting to return shortly. Britain, however, gained formal sovereignty over the Rock in the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 and has remained there ever since, despite Spain’s diplomatic and military attempts to regain it.
The most serious attempts came in 1779 when the arduous Great Siege was to last over 3½ years. At the start of the 1800s, Gibraltar’s strategic position was fully utilized during the Napoleonic Wars. After Nelson’s victory at nearby Cape Trafalgar, his flagship HMS Victory limped into Rosia Bay, with the Admiral’s body pickled in a barrel of rum. Some crew members are buried at Trafalgar cemetery.
Gibraltar played an important strategic role in both World Wars, but particularly the Second, when Hitler formalized Operation Felix, a plan to invade the Rock with Spanish support that never materialized. During these times the Rock became honeycombed with passages, augmenting the existing caves, used for ammunition storage, making a formidable fortress guarding the western entrance to the Mediterranean. It was during the Second World War that Winston Churchill, on hearing the legend that if the Barbary apes left the Rock, then the British would too, insisted for propaganda reasons that their number should never fall below 35.
In the post-war period, Franco continued to try to persuade the British to give up the Rock, but in a number of referendums the Gibraltarians have always staunchly voted to remain British. Franco eventually closed the border in 1965, however, this only served to make the llanitos even more anti-Spanish.
After the death of Franco and the entry of Spain into the Common Market, the borders were re-opened in 1985. Controversy, however, continued. In 1988, the SAS killed three suspected IRA terrorists at the Shell petrol station a stone’s throw from the border and, although there had been some collaboration with the Spanish police, the incident did little to enhance cooperation between the two countries. In recent years, since the departure of nearly all the British forces, Gibraltar has made attempts to create some economic independence by forming a sort of financial Isle of Man in the Mediterranean, with mixed results. A casual attitude to financial regulation, including steps to combat money laundering – many companies based here are outside supervision and include many banks and internet gambling set-ups – have infuriated Spain and aroused the ire of the EU. Some controls are due to come into place by 2010. The long-serving Chief Minister, Peter Caruana, who was re-elected in 2007, has generally been a positive force for change of this sort, having clamped down on smuggling activities and improved relations with Spain.
Gibraltar has held referendums (declared illegal by the British government) in which a massive majority of the population have affirmed their wish to remain under the British umbrella (votes to become part of Spain haven’t even reached three figures). While the governments of Britain and Spain seem prepared to come to a mutually acceptable agreement over the Crown Colony, the small matter of the wishes of the inhabitants has frustrated their designs. Still, Spain seems more accepting of the situation, and the surrounding area has benefitted from a flow-on effect. The very fact that in 2006 Iberia commenced a Madrid–Gibraltar air service (though they ceased operating it in 2008 due to lack of demand) is proof of a more pragmatic attitude; it would have been unthinkable 20 years ago. Spanish Prime Minister Zapatero’s willingness to include Gibraltarians in the debate has been another encouraging sign.
Much of the Gibraltar now in evidence is on reclaimed land; Dutch polder experts have been brought in to extend the usable land of the colony; the new Europort area is one recent expansion. The sea originally reached the high walls of the old town.
