"Gibraltar - Still a British Colony" Top 5 Page for this destination Gibraltar by easyoar

Gibraltar Travel Guide: 1,352 reviews and 2,221 photos

Gibraltar, as seen from the Spanish Side

Gibraltar is a small rock (well certainly not small enough that you can pick it up!) on the Southern Tip of Spain. The Rock has been under British sovereignty for several hundred years now and the Spanish don't like it.

Gibraltar aside, Britain and Spain get on remarkably well, and are both countries in the EU. Britains Prime Minister Tony Blair used to holiday with Spain's ex-Premier Jose Maria Aznar, and the two Premiers were good political buddies too. However when you bring Gibraltar back into the equation things can heat up a bit.

The Sun sets on British Rule in Gib?

If I read between the lines, I sometimes feel the British Government would like to be shot of Gibraltar and hand her over to Spanish control. The Britain and Spain would both be happy and everything would be hunky dorey? Not a bit of it. When referendums are held in Gib, the results would make the leader of a one party communist state over the moon. Almost without exception the whole island votes to be British. Spain and Britain were talking of some deal recently and left the Gibraltarians out of the talks. The Gibraltarians reaction was to hold a referendum where well over 99% of the population voted to remain British. The Spanish-Anglo talks collapsed almost instantly.

Now one thing Spain doesn't advertise much is that she has two of her own Gibraltars (Ceuta and Melilla) on mainland Africa, and the Morrocans want these back even more badly than the Spanish want Gibraltar. The Spanish response to this is? We won't even discuss Spanish sovereignty of Ceuta and Melilla. A little hypocritical in my opinion!

Spanish feeling on Gibraltar does run quite deeply however. When I was at Uni, I had two friends who had both been born and bred in Spain. One lived in Barcelona, and the other in the Basque Country. They would argue until the cows came home that "We are NOT Spanish". Many people in Barcelona consider themselves Catalan and not Spanish (and so did my friend). The Basque, well I'm sure people know of ETA that wants to separate the Basque Country from Spain. Well my Basque friend certainly didn't fall into that category, but he certainly wasn't Spanish either. One day I got a bit fed up with their rants on anti-Spanish this and that. and I dropped Gibraltar in the equation, and added "and of course she is British". Both of them suddenly forgot all about their lack of Spanishness and immediately started arguing quite heatedly that Gibraltar was Spanish. When I asked why they should care as neither of them were Spanish, I got a rather sheepish silence before one piped up that he felt that way because "The Spanish are nicer than the English".

Some of these arguments aren't always that logical, they just have rules that neither side will deviate from.

Pros and Cons

Pros:A curious mix of Britain with Spanish and other bits thrown in
Cons:The complicated politics
In a nutshell:In some respects it's more British than Britain

Intro Updated Jan 22, 2005
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Reviews (21)

Does Gibraltar have it's own flag? Local Customs (2)

If you visit Gibraltar, you could be forgiven for thinking that it has no flag of its own and that the Union Jack (i.e.... more travel advice

Flying in to Gib Transportation (3)

I haven't flown in to Gibraltar, but the experience must be amazing, especially if you get a window seat. The planes I... more travel advice

Looking across to Spain from Gibraltar - Gibraltar

The View to Spain is pretty good too! Things to Do (9)

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Big Gun controlling the Straits of Gibraltar - Gibraltar

A Big Gun at the top of the Rock Off The Beaten Path (2)

As Gibraltar looks across the Gibraltar straits, which are fairly narrow, it plays a key part in controlling access to... more travel advice

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Comments (35)

lomi Sep 3, 2009 at 9:03 AM Report Abuse

Great pages! We got married in Gib but stayed in Ronda further up in the hills.
blint Apr 8, 2008 at 5:24 PM Report Abuse

It's been ages since I took a tour round your pages, seemed I missed your 5 star Gib page before, but when are you gonna write your Cadiz page? ;)
Gillybob Jan 4, 2008 at 5:51 AM Report Abuse

Nice page with good photos - I really enjoyed my trip to Gibraltar! Gillybob greetings
hunterV Mar 1, 2007 at 8:27 AM Report Abuse

Hi, Andy, I enjoyed reading this page, as well as all others you have created!
Nemorino Jul 6, 2006 at 2:03 PM Report Abuse

Sounds as though nothing has changed in Gibraltar since I was there 43 years ago.
ChristinaNest Jun 23, 2006 at 2:02 PM Report Abuse

Great page!! Stunning view to Spain and funny thieving apes. Is it poss. to capture both continents& Gibraltar on 1 pic, from ship/plane maybe? Happy birthday, have a great time on Sunday!
NatassaPL Jun 9, 2006 at 5:26 AM Report Abuse

your pages and photos are fantastic!
traveldave Jun 6, 2006 at 9:35 AM Report Abuse

Can't trust those apes with anything. Gibraltar looks like a fascinating place. I wonder, though, how long it will remain British.
icunme May 11, 2006 at 12:09 PM Report Abuse

Thoroughly enjoyed these pages - great photos and interesting information - will return again. Ciao, Carol
triplehelix Jan 3, 2006 at 1:27 PM Report Abuse

Wow lots of informative material! I never knew this much about the area, I always assumed it was a popular tourist spot. great page!