GIBRALTAR | Britain's Unsolvable Dispute?

Well, what did you expect me to cover this week!? :-) I wasn't going to do this for a while. But the surprise English advancement to the Euro final against Spain made this impossible not to do! Seriously though, what are your thoughts on this? Is this a dispute that has just to be managed in perpetuity? Or is there a formula to settle it? Perhaps the Gibraltarians will eventually give up on British rule as the effects of Brexit wear them down. As always, let me know what you think.

Great timing for that video with the Euro 2024 final.

You always release these on Fridays around the end of the work day here in the U.S., which means I always get to start my weekend with them. 🎉😎🎉

As for Schengen, rememeber that the UK never was a part of it, which would then raise the question why the Rock should be part of it.

England: "Let us win the Euros and we will give you Gibraltar." Spain: "I' will get back to you Monday"

It is a good summary, but a bit one-sided (I do not mean that in a bad way). For example, Gibraltar wasn't held by a succession of foreign powers (Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, and the Ummayyad Caliphate) without any intervention from the locals until 1462.For the vast majority of antiquity, it belonged to a local Iberian tribe (Turdetani). When Gibraltar was taken in the 1700s,the locals were expelled by the invading troops. They were later replaced with people loyal to the UK, hence the lack of Spanish identity nowadays. Common then, but now we call it ethnic cleansing. Nevertheless, I agree that regardless of how we got here, there is no point in ignoring the will of the Gibraltarians. In relation to the Treaties of Utretch, the nuance is that they refer to "the rock and the castle," not including the ithsmus or the surrounding waters. The issue with that is the fishing rights, which Spain argues were never ceded, and the UK claims naturally follow from possession of the land. This is literally a daily headache in the area. Also, in mid or late 1800s (I dont remember the exact date), disease was going rampant through the barracks in Gibraltar. Spain allowed, on an interim basis, that new barracks were built on the ithsmus, to separate the ill from the healthy, and better deal with the outbreak. The UK never returned the ithsmus as per the agreement. That piece of land was not included in the Treaties of Utretch, but taken by the UK after a Spanish gesture of goodwill, which naturally bothers Spain to no end. In addition, Gibraltar's airport was built on the ithsmus, and extending over the water (that Spain maintains was never ceded), so you see how the thing itches to Spanish people familiar with the topic. There is a UN resolution from the 1960s requiring Gibraltar to be decolonised, but it was obviously ignored. In relation to Schengen, and border control issues, the UK didn't join Schengen, therefore, Gibraltar didn't either. Gibraltar has complained to EU's Frontex many times about excessive controls on the border, but Frontex has always ruled that they are proportionate and consistent with a non-Schengen border. Many issues arose by Gibraltar's understandable zeal with keeping authority over its surrounding waters, which Spain equates with providing safe harbour to smugglers and drug dealers pursued by the Spanish civil guard. There were also issues in the past with oil tankers anchoring in Gibraltar to operate as floating petrol stations, which ended up polluting Spanish waters due to frequent spills. As it is now, Gibraltar and the Spanish side (La Línea) have a situation of co-dependence, they need each other. Brexit has dealt a terrible hand to Gibraltar. A few years ago some colleagues who live there said that, after Brexit, they get a weekly ship from the UK, restocking M&S, but the shelves are empty again by the evening. What keeps the place supplied is the Spanish supermarket. They also depend on Spanish hospitals for healhcare, and many Gibraltarians actually lived in Spain because housing in Gibraltar is so scarce that it became prohibitive. The place's strategic value is no more for as long as Spain and UK are in NATO. Rota, in nearby Cadiz, is the best NATO base in the area, and the most used. Even the Royal Navy uses it primarily over Gibraltar. Ironically, Cadiz was the original target of the Anglo-Dutch force that landed in Gibraltar. They were repelled, dug in, and met the end of the war still there. I hope you find the extra information that I have added interesting, maybe to have a better understanding of why it is such an issue for some Spaniards.

haha nice one man, with the football final coming up this is good time to get this out

Spain: We need our territory back UK: What about Melilla and Ceuta Spain: We are not talking about that right now

Franco died in the mid 70s (1975)

I always find it funny how Spain🇪🇸has such a problem with Gibraltar🇬🇮but when Morocco🇲🇦complains of Ceuta and Melilla - it falls on deaf ears 🤷‍♂️

But is Gibraltar strategically vital any more? Britain no longer has an Empire and no need for a route to India via the Mediterranean, Suez Canal, Red Sea and Indian Ocean, of which Gibraltar was the door keeper to the Med from the Atlantic. Malta has gone, Egypt with the Suez Canal has gone, Aden has gone and of course the Indian subcontinent has gone. Even the onward connection from India to SE and Australasia is no longer needed as Singapore is gone, Hong Kong is gone, Malaysia is gone and Australia is now a part of the American empire. NZ just sits out there on its own in splendid isolation.

When I compare Gibraltar to the similar situation in Northern Ireland, I feel that the same principles leads to radically different outcomes. I can imagine the population of Northern Ireland one day voting for reunion with the Republic of Ireland. I also know that the Republic respects the people of Northern Ireland in their right to make that decision. But I can't ever see Gibraltar voting themselves into Spain, nor that Spain will genuinely respect their decision not to join. (On a personal level, I really dislike when national leaders put historical claims over and above the rights of people living in the area. Unless that history is very recent or still has deeply negative consequences today (I can imagine such an example but won't name it), I don't respect people who do this. History doesn't have feelings and can't be offended by the present. We should concentrate on fixing the moral wrongs of today, not the perceived wrongs of the past.)

What negotiations are needed? Gibraltar is Spanish, historically and by agreement should have been transfered back to Spain years ago! Are the English native to Gibraltar?

There is no Gibraltar problem. 98% of Gibralterians have voted to stay British. Stop talking to the Spanish.

From an Americans perspective, it was very instructive to watch your presentation to not only see the history of Gibraltar, but the ongoing issues of British sovereignty over a slice of territory that is physically connected to Spain. I was particularly fascinated to hear that the local population is so strongly opposed to Spain taking over sovereignty, when it appears that many of the locals travel to Spain every day or at least very regularly.

Don't know why they'd negotiat at all! Gibraltar is British (says me and NO I am not a Brit! I am German) and they'd be stupid to give it up!

How about Olivença, with Portugal.Spain is obliged by treaty to return the occupied territory, and is yet to comply.

Excellent work as always very informative and historically helpful thank you Professor James Ker-Lindsay

I'm from the UK but I live in southern Spain. I've visited Gibraltar easily over a hundred times since moving to Spain two years ago as I visit it every week. Everyone I've spoken to in Gibraltar is proudly British Gibraltarian and none of them have announced any interest in joining Spain

Great video, thank you!