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GIBRALTAR
Is Still the
ROCK
OF CONTENTION
by
John Ross Schroeder
The Spanish government has finally agreed to reopen its borders to Gibraltar.
Will the quarrels over the famous Rock at last pass into history?
F
OR NEARLY
300 years
Gibraltar
has been a rock of
contention between
the British and the
Spanish.
J
t seems , under–
standably, that noth–
ing upsets Span ish
pride more than a
British royal visit to
the Rock of Gibraltar.
Prince Philip's visit
in 1950, for example,
served to spotlight the
controversy . And to
highlight the British
Parl iament ' s long–
range goal to grant
self-government to the
Rock's 30,000 inhabitants. Madrid
immediately perceived that the vast
majority (mostly foreign in origin)
would not vote for a return to
Spanish sovereignty.
Again, wben Queen Elizabeth
fl
stopped off at Gibraltar to com–
plete her world tour in 1954, the
Spanish blamed the British govern–
ment for this "deliberate," provoc-
April 1982
ative act. The Spanish press hauled
out British "sins" from the so–
caBed rape of Gibraltar in 1704 to
Henry VJU's treatment of Cather–
ine of Aragon.
All the furor finally ended with
Premier Francisco Franco forbid–
ding Spaniards to visit the Rock.
(In
1969 Spanish authorities com–
pletely sealed off the border link-
frontier.
ing Spain with G ibral–
tar.)
The last time the
"royal yacht touched
the Rock" was in 1981.
Spain's King Juan Car–
los declined to attend
Prince Charles' wed–
ding because Gibraltar
was chosen as a conve–
nient place to begin the
royal honeymoon cruise
in the Mediterranean.
Over a week before,
The
Daily
Express
ran
a headl ine captioned:
"Spain Ready to Open
Gibraltar." The upshot
of that British decision
to begin the royal hon–
eymoon at Gibraltar
was perhaps to delay the
opening of the Spanish
But despite another wounding
blow to Spain's sensitive national
pride, why has Madrid fi nally
agreed to open up Gibraltar to the
mainland?
Spain Ready to Reenter Europe
In
simple terms the reason for
Spain's about-turn is her desire to
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