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ITS TIME,
no nation or empire
possessed such an imposing
symbol of its imperial pride
and glory as did Brita in. G ibra lta r
- the awesome limes tone monolith
standing sent inel over the Atla nti c
approach es to the Med iterranean -
has for nea rly three centu ries been a
symbol of power a nd strength , of
permanence, endurance - and jut–
jawed defiance.
From th e time of its capture from
Spa in in 1704, Gi bra ltar has been a
prized Bri tish for tress a nd crown
colony. Without " the Rock," the
British Empire would have been di f–
fi cul t to maintain.
Gibraltar looks westward to the
At la nti c, nor thward to Europe ,
southward to Africa, and eastward
to the Mediterranean .
lt
has been
a nd is now a n important world
crossroads and sea gate. Britain has
controlled scores of other la nd and
sea gates around the world - Suez,
the Khyber Pass, the Strai t of Ma–
lacca, Singapore, Ma lta, and Ceylon
to name only a few. One by one
these gates have fa llen to o ther na-
tions or have become independent.
Bu t no t Gibralta r.
"The Rock" is unique. Brita in,
which gave up Indi a, her Africa n
colonies, and other holdings around
the world a lrnost without a fight, has
been determined to hold on to the
lion-shaped rock - " the most inesti–
mable jewel in the British Crown,"
in the opinion of one-tirne British
Prime Minister Willia m Pitt.
Conve rsely, Spa in has been just
as de termined to r ecover the Rock.
To th e Spani sh, British sovereignty
over Gibral ta r re presen ts wh a t
Spanish sovereign ty over the white
cliffs of Dover would be - an into l–
erable affront to nationa l dignity, a
" thorn in the side."
Slice of Old England
Today G ibraltar 's nearly three–
centu ries-old associa tion wi th Brit–
ain is evident at every turn . The
visitor to this 2
1
,4-sq uare-mile "slice
of old England," suspended like an
a ppendix below Spain's southern
coast, finds himse lf st rolling down
streets such as "Winston Churchill
Avenue," "Queen 's Road," " Prince
Edward 's Road," and "George's
La ne." Many of G ibralta r's 200
pubs bea r such pa te ntly British
names as The Red Lion, The Bat
a nd Ba ll , The Fox and Hounds, and
The Bull and Bush. The trad itional
afternoon tea, fish a nd chips,
English beer, " bobbies," Bri tish ac–
cents, the Victoria Ho te l, King
George V Hospital - a ll a re re–
minders of longsta ndi ng British co –
lo nia l status.
G ibral ta r 's current population of
28.000 - a curious blend of Gen–
oese, Maltese, Portuguese, Spanish.
English. and Jewish stocks - has
been described as bein g more Brit–
is h tha n the British th emselves. Ital–
ian-surnamed taxi drivers proudly
display pictures of Queen Elizabeth
on dashboards. News kiosks, and
sometimes fences and bu ildi ngs, ad–
vertise pro- British sent iments.
Still lmportant in
Nuclear Age
Today, the Rock has lost muc h of
its former glory. Wi th the adven t of
The
GIBRALTAR
CONTROVERSY
For nearly three centuries, the Rock of Gibraltar has been the focus of
heated debate. One of the few remaining vestiges of a once-mighty British
Empire, "the Rock" is an ever-present thorn in the side ofAnglo-Spanish
relations.
by
Ke ith W. Stump
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