Portal:Gibraltar

The Gibraltar Portal

Gibraltar (/dʒɪˈbrɔːltər, -ˈbrɒl-/ ^ⓘ jih-BRAWL-tər, -⁠BROL-, Spanish: [xiβɾalˈtaɾ]) is a British Overseas Territory and city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the Atlantic Ocean (Strait of Gibraltar). It has an area of 6.8 km² (2.6 sq mi) and is bordered to the north by Spain (Campo de Gibraltar). The landscape is dominated by the Rock of Gibraltar, at the foot of which is a densely populated town area. Gibraltar is home to around 34,000 people, primarily Gibraltarians.

Gibraltar was founded as a permanent watchtower by the Almohads in 1160. It switched control between the Nasrids, Castilians and Marinids in the Late Middle Ages, acquiring larger strategic clout upon the destruction of nearby Algeciras c. 1375. It became again part of the Crown of Castile in 1462. In 1704, Anglo-Dutch forces captured Gibraltar from Spain during the War of the Spanish Succession, and it was ceded to Great Britain in perpetuity under the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. It became an important base for the Royal Navy, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars and World War II, as it controlled the narrow entrance and exit to the Mediterranean Sea, the Strait of Gibraltar, with half the world's seaborne trade passing through it.

The sovereignty of Gibraltar is a point of contention in Anglo-Spanish relations as Spain asserts a claim to the territory. Gibraltarians overwhelmingly rejected proposals for Spanish sovereignty in a 1967 referendum, and for shared sovereignty in a 2002 referendum. Nevertheless, Gibraltar maintains close economic and cultural links with Spain, with many Gibraltarians speaking Spanish as well as a local dialect known as Llanito. (Full article...)

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"Death on the Rock" was a British television documentary broadcast in April 1988, part of Thames Television's current affairs series This Week. The programme examined the killing of three Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) members in Gibraltar in March 1988 by the British Special Air Service (SAS), codenamed "Operation Flavius". "Death on the Rock" presented evidence that the IRA members were shot without warning or with their hands up. It was condemned by the British government and denounced in the press as sensationalist. After one of its witnesses retracted his statement, "Death on the Rock" became the first individual documentary to be the subject of an independent inquiry, in which it was largely vindicated.

This Week began investigating the shootings after it emerged that IRA members were not armed or in possession of a bomb, as initially reported. The documentary was broadcast on ITV on 28 April 1988, despite two attempts by the government to have it postponed. Using eyewitness statements, the documentary questioned the government's version of events, and suggested that the three IRA members may have been unlawfully killed. It concluded by putting its findings to a human rights lawyer, who suggested the government should convene a judicial inquiry. Several newspapers attacked the documentary, accusing it of sensationalism and "trial by television". They mounted a campaign against Carmen Proetta, one of the documentary's witnesses, accusing her of being a former prostitute and of being anti-British; Proetta later successfully sued several newspapers for libel. Other newspapers accused "Death on the Rock" of misrepresenting the eyewitnesses' statements and criticised the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) for allowing it to be broadcast. (Full article...)

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Map credit: Eric Gaba

Situated on a narrow rocky promontory at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula; the Rock of Gibraltar formed one of the Pillars of Hercules.

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“

Britain's Gibraltar made possible the invasion of North-West Africa. Without it the vital air cover would not have been quickly established on the North African Fields.

”

— Dwight D. Eisenhower, a five-star General and the 34^th President of the United States.

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Sir John Leake by Godfrey Kneller

Admiral of the Fleet Sir John Leake (4 July 1656 – 21 August 1720) was a Royal Navy officer and politician. As a junior officer he saw action at the Battle of Texel during the Third Anglo-Dutch War. Leake then distinguished himself when he led the convoy that broke the barricading boom at Culmore Fort thereby lifting the siege of Derry during the Williamite War in Ireland. As a captain he saw action in some of the heaviest fighting (70 of his men were killed) at the Battle of Barfleur and was also involved in a successful attack on the French ships at the Battle of La Hogue during the Nine Years' War.

Leake went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Newfoundland and then, as a flag officer, served as Second-in-Command to Admiral George Rooke at the Capture of Gibraltar and he commanded the vanguard in the Battle of Málaga during the War of the Spanish Succession. He later returned to Gibraltar with a combined English, Dutch and Portuguese force of 35 ships and defeated Baron de Pointis at the Battle of Cabrita Point. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

... that Dorothy Ellicott was the first woman to be elected to two different Gibraltar Councils and was posthumously awarded the Gibraltar Medallion of Honour on Gibraltar National Day 2008?
... that in 1939, excavations beneath John Mackintosh Square in Gibraltar for the construction of an air-raid shelter revealed no signs of any foundations, suggesting it has always been an open square?
... that capital punishment in Gibraltar was last enforced in 1944 when British hangman Albert Pierrepoint travelled undercover to the territory to hang two young Spanish spies? (25 July 2012, 5,697 views)
... that the Gibraltar Museum houses the remains of a 14th-century Moorish bath house, once the private baths of the Governor of Gibraltar during the Marinid dynasty? (26 July 2012, 2,222 views)
... that the Europa Point Lighthouse at Gibraltar is the only lighthouse operated by Trinity House on continental Europe outside the United Kingdom? (27 July 2012, 4,122 views)
... that Giovanni Battista Calvi was an Italian military engineer who worked on many important Spanish defensive projects in the 1500s, to include those in the now British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar?

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General images

The following are images from various Gibraltar-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Searchlights on the Rock of Gibraltar during an air raid practice on 20 November 1942 (from History of Gibraltar)
Image 2Gibraltar's Royal Navy Base (from Transport in Gibraltar)
Image 3The Gibraltar House of Assembly (now the Gibraltar Parliament), established in 1969. (from History of Gibraltar)
Image 4The Pillars of Hercules depicted erroneously as an island on the Tabula Peutingeriana, an ancient Roman map (from History of Gibraltar)
Image 5Aerial view of Gibraltar as seen in 2011 (from History of Gibraltar)
Image 6Thousands of Gibraltarians dress in their national colours of red and white and fill Grand Casemates Square during the 2013 Gibraltar National Day celebrations (from Culture of Gibraltar)
Image 7Gibraltar Airport and border area. Showing runway (Gibraltar) and pier behind (Spain). Officially, any exact line is still disputed (from Transport in Gibraltar)
Image 8Timetable on a bus shelter (from Transport in Gibraltar)
Image 9Gibraltar, 1654 by Jan Peeters I (from History of Gibraltar)
Image 10The 14th-century Tower of Homage, the largest surviving fragment of Gibraltar's Moorish Castle (from History of Gibraltar)
Image 11"Gibraltar Woman" – a Neanderthal who lived in Gibraltar some 50,000 years ago (from History of Gibraltar)
Image 12A map of Gibraltar and its fortifications, drawn in 1799 by Jean-Denis Barbié du Bocage (from History of Gibraltar)
Image 13Gibraltar Cable Car (from Transport in Gibraltar)
Image 14Gibraltar Bus Company Dennis Dart on route 4 at the Both Worlds bus terminus, Sandy Bay. (from Transport in Gibraltar)
Image 15Vice Admiral Sir Neville Syfret inspecting the men aboard the Rodney, Gibraltar, January 1943 (from History of Gibraltar)
Image 16The Sortie made by the Garrison of Gibraltar in the Morning of 27 November 1781 by John Trumbull, depicting a British attack that occurred during the Great Siege of Gibraltar (from History of Gibraltar)
Image 17The Explosion of the Spanish Flagship during the Battle of Gibraltar by Cornelis Claesz van Wieringen (from History of Gibraltar)
Image 18Sir George Rooke, the commander of the Anglo-Dutch fleet that conquered Gibraltar in the name of Archduke Charles of Austria (from History of Gibraltar)
Image 19Special passes were required to enter Gibraltar proper at night, while the Spanish civil war was raging 1936. (from History of Gibraltar)
Image 20The First Battle of Algeciras, which took plane on 6 July 1801 off Gibraltar (from History of Gibraltar)
Image 21Veüe du d'Estroit de Gibraltar et des Environs, avec les tranchées du Siège mis en 1704, by Louis Boudan (1704) (from History of Gibraltar)
Image 22The Charles V Wall, built by the Spanish to control access to the south side of Gibraltar after the pirate raid of September 1540 (from History of Gibraltar)
Image 23Calypso Transport open top bus on discontinued route 10 (from Transport in Gibraltar)
Image 24Annotated satellite view of the Strait of Gibraltar (from History of Gibraltar)
Image 25Castle Street, Gibraltar, by Frederick Leeds Edridge, 1833 (from History of Gibraltar)
Image 26Traffic drives on the right (from Transport in Gibraltar)
Image 27View across Gibraltar looking north, by Frederick William J. Shore (1883) (from History of Gibraltar)
Image 28A current Gibraltar rear number plate featuring the country identifier GBZ (from Transport in Gibraltar)
Image 29Gibraltar's country identifier is GBZ (from Transport in Gibraltar)
Image 30The arms granted to the city of Gibraltar by a Royal Warrant passed in Toledo on 10 July 1502 by Isabella I of Castile (from History of Gibraltar)
Image 31North View of Gibraltar from Spanish Lines by John Mace (1782) (from History of Gibraltar)
Image 32Gibraltar's Moorish Baths, now incorporated into the Gibraltar Museum (from History of Gibraltar)
Image 33Spanish border pass for Gibraltarian residents, permitting day visits only. (from History of Gibraltar)
Image 34MV Aurora (2000) berthed adjacent to the Gibraltar Cruise Terminal at the Western Arm of the North Mole (from Transport in Gibraltar)
Image 35The closed gates at the border between Gibraltar and Spain, 1977 (from History of Gibraltar)
Image 36Location of Gibraltar in the far south of the Iberian Peninsula (from History of Gibraltar)
Image 37A 1779 depiction of British-controlled Gibraltar, under siege from Franco-Spanish forces. (from History of Gibraltar)
Image 38Gibraltar Bus Company bus routes (right-click to enlarge). (from Transport in Gibraltar)
Image 39The United States' Great White Fleet visiting Gibraltar harbour in February 1909 (from History of Gibraltar)
Image 40Foreign Secretary William Hague and Minister for Europe David Lidington with Chief Minister of Gibraltar Fabian Picardo at a meeting in London, 28 August 2013 (from Culture of Gibraltar)