Dispute over Gibraltar (Arbitrary Borders)
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The introduction of guns with much greater ranges and the advent of the airplane made Gibraltar extremely vulnerable. During World War I, the population of Gibraltar did not decrease significantly as it had during previous conflicts, and cordial relations were maintained with Spain. The border remained open, and Spanish workers who had been crossing into Gibraltar to work for five decades continued to do so; Spain even provided food and other supplies to Gibraltar during the war.
In the absence of a dispute over the sovereignty of Gibraltar, there was no clear and distinct division between the two territories. Despite a different system of government and a territorial border, there was a natural tendency for the two populations to interact, and strong ties existed between the two communities. During World War I, for instance, Gibraltar had closer links to Spain, which provided water and supplies, than to Britain, which was preoccupied fighting the war on the continent.
The British government carried out extensive work on a landing strip for airplanes and took other measures to improve the defenses of Gibraltar. It also allowed the territory to be used as a launching point for the Anglo-American invasion of North Africa in At the end of World War II, the British had difficulty transporting back those individuals who had been forced to leave Gibraltar.
Although some chose not to return, about 10, people who had been evacuated wanted to return but were unable to do so for several years because the British government could not secure enough vessels to transport them. In the decades following that war, Britain had economic problems and was under increasing pressure to decolonize dependent territories.
As mentioned previously, the British had already enacted some measures related to self-governance, including designating Gibraltar a Crown Colony in , giving the population official recognition as separate from the military garrison. The population and the Gibraltar council wanted a greater degree of autonomy and the right to make their own decisions, but they also thought it necessary to retain their links to Great Britain, even though that meant remaining a dependent territory.
When Great Britain agreed to grant further autonomy to Gibraltarians, the dispute with Spain reemerged. The dispute gained an international dimension in , when Spain requested that the matter be presented before a special committee of the United Nations UN , an international peacekeeping organization created in One of the fundamental principles stated in the UN Charter was its respect for the self-determination of all peoples. The UN established An Extremely Bitter Dispute guidelines for granting independence to colonies and required colonial powers such as France and Great Britain to provide reports on all non-self-governing territories under their control.
Britain considered Gibraltar to be a colony and provided reports on its status and its intention to allow greater autonomy for the territory. Spain initially argued that, under the terms of the agreement that ceded Gibraltar to Britain, Spain had the right of first refusal should the British decide to sell or alienate Gibraltar from Great Britain in any way.
When Great Britain rejected this argument and expressed its intent to grant Gibraltar a greater measure of self-governance, Spain turned to the United Nations and demanded a hearing on the matter. Spain demanded, in essence, that Gibraltar be transferred to Spanish control and annexed to Spain. Spain, however, insisted that Gibraltarians could continue to exercise authority and maintain their traditions. Spain argued that Gibraltar was primarily a military institution and that most of its residents were displaced British citizens or disreputable traders making profits on illegal trade.
In addition, because the population of Gibraltar was not an independent group that was conquered and forced to live under British rule, Spain argued, the UN resolution on self-determination did not apply. If the population is not a true community with a legitimate claim to self-determination, then the dispute over Gibraltar should not be resolved by applying the UN resolution on self-determination. The UN committee report in reference to the situation in regard to Gibraltar only referred to UN resolution and not another resolution that also deals with decolonization.
In resolution XV , there is a specific paragraph the sixth paragraph stating that neither the territorial integrity nor the national unity of a nation should be disrupted. Both Britain and Gibraltarians have rejected the Spanish argument. In the decade following World War II, some areas achieved independence, but there were still a significant number of non-self-governing territories in In , the UN created the Special Committee of 24 on Decolonization, to monitor and make recommendations to implement the declaration.
The Dispute Over Gibraltar (Arbitrary Borders)
Spain argued that the territorial integrity of Spain should take precedence over the desires of the population, and Britain should deal with Spain, even if this went against the express wishes of the population. The Special Committee did not denounce increased self-rule for Gibraltar and emphasized that the UN declaration did apply to Gibraltar. However, the official statement referred to the UN resolution on decolonization that had a detailed point indicating that the protection of the territorial integrity of nations and states should be a priority rather than mentioning the resolution on decolonization that stressed the right of the indigenous population to selfdetermination exclusively.
By the time the UN held hearings on Gibraltar in the s, the population of Gibraltar clearly had a strong sense of loyalty to and a close connection with Britain. Britain had appropriated enormous sums of money to alleviate the economic depression that resulted from border restrictions imposed by the Spanish government that began in British influence is reflected in the laws, government, trade unions, and other aspects of life in Gibraltar. The laws reflect British traditions and codes, and the police on Gibraltar are was not a true community but merely a British military garrison with a number of displaced British citizens compelling.
The UN seemed to have rejected the Gibraltarian argument that self-determination must take precedence over all other issues, in part because abiding by the wishes of the population would force the UN to sanction or approve of Gibraltar remaining a colonial possession indefinitely. This put Britain in an untenable situation, since it had promised the Gibraltar council and representatives that it would not transfer sovereignty to Spain against the wishes of the population.
It is interesting to note that, in hearings before a UN committee set up to oversee the implementation of decolonization, none of the parties argued that Gibraltar should be granted independence. Spain insisted that sovereignty over Gibraltar be transferred to Spain. Britain and Gibraltar insisted that Gibraltar must remain under British control. The oldest newspaper, the Gibraltar Chronicle, began as a British garrison newspaper. Education is set up along British lines at the secondary level, and some students complete a university degree in England. The culture of Gibraltar reflects British influence, although Spanish is also spoken and some Spanish customs persist.
Leaders of the Gibraltar community acknowledge their close connection to England but insist that the town and community are separate from the military garrison and that the status of Gibraltar must be in accord with the wishes of the population. The hearings before the UN Special Committee of 24 on Decolonization focused on the status of Gibraltar and the distinction between self-determination and complete self-rule, or independence.
The United Nations supports the rights of selfdetermination for all people, but although Gibraltarians want greater autonomy, they insist on remaining under the control of Britain. Therefore, self-determination and political independence for Gibraltar are mutually exclusive. Alternatively, if Gibraltar were transferred to the control of Spain, it would still not become independent, but it would instead be an integral part of the Spanish nation and no longer a colonial possession. As a result of increasing sanctions imposed by Spain, pressure from the United Nations, and the failure of Anglo-Spanish negotiations to settle the issue of Gibraltar, the British resorted to a referendum, seen by some as a radical course of action.
The British prime minister announced in the House of Commons on June 14, , that a referendum would be held that would ask the people of Gibraltar to vote on the following options: 1. To pass under Spanish sovereignty in accordance with the terms proposed by the Spanish Government on May 18, To retain their link with Britain, with democratic local institutions and with Britain retaining its present responsibilities.
Transfer of Gibraltar to Spain was overwhelmingly rejected, and there was tremendous support for Britain. This declaration was confirmed in a referendum held on 10 September of the same year. The British hoped the referendum would enable them to gain the support of the international community and the UN for their policies on Gibraltar, but both Spain and the UN opposed the holding of the referendum.
This opposition led to an even closer relationship between the population of Gibraltar and Britain, because the majority of Gibraltarians felt they should be able to vote on their own future. Spain and the UN insisted that the matter should be resolved by direct negotiations between Spain and Britain.
The vote may have been overwhelmingly pro-British, but it led to a complete impasse in Anglo-Spanish relations, and it did not gain the British any significant support from the international community. It has been suggested that Gibraltar be annexed or come under the direct control of Britain, so the issue of sovereignty would cease to exist and Britain would have to defend it by any and all necessary means. Most individuals in both Britain and Gibraltar were and still are opposed to this option.
Most Gibraltarians do not want to pay British taxes and prefer association with Britain over annexation. The British public and many British politicians have no desire to assume greater control of Gibraltar and rightly assume that the international community would protest such an action. Pictured here are Gibraltarians celebrating National Gibraltar Day on September 10, , two months prior to the referendum to determine joint sovereignty.
The nature and location of the border has not remained constant. It An Extremely Bitter Dispute is an artificial border that has not really divided the population of the two territories, and the intermarriage and interaction between Spaniards and Gibraltarians led to a culture incorporating elements from the two territories.
At times of tension and dispute between the two countries, the border has been partially or fully closed to all people, goods, and even communications and has been a real division that not only separated Gibraltar and Spain but also Britain and Spain. The United Nations and the international community continue to be involved in the dispute over the status of Gibraltar but have been unsuccessful in resolving it.
The population of Gibraltar remains anti-Spanish, and in November , 99 percent of Gibraltarians rejected a proposal that would have allowed Britain and Spain to exercise joint sovereignty.
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New issues have emerged as the European Union has developed, and no resolution that would satisfy all concerned parties is on the horizon. The actual line of demarcation between the two territories, again both at land and at sea, has changed several times during the more than three centuries it has been under British control. The nature of the border and the population are also in a sense arbitrary, because neither has remained constant or unchanging for any significant length of time. In ancient times, the Phoenicians and Romans were familiar with Gibraltar but established settlements in modern-day Spain.
The Iberian Peninsula was far more attractive than the barren landscape of Gibraltar, especially to cultures dependent on trade or laborintensive agriculture for their livelihood. The Moors landed on Gibraltar in , and in another expedition established a base there. The border was arbitrary between and , because during the struggle between the Moors and Spanish leaders, Gibraltar, as well as the territory adjacent to it, changed hands several times. In geographic terms, Gibraltar is a narrow peninsula of 2.
The dispute over Gibraltar
A sandy isthmus connects Gibraltar, on its north side, to the western coast of Spain, whereas Europa Point, at the southernmost end, is approximately 20 miles 32 kilometers from Ceuta, in Morocco, across the Strait of Gibraltar. The peninsula is a gigantic rock of Jurassic limestone, carved out over thousands of years by the wind and the sea, 1, feet The western side gradually descends to a rocky promontory and then to a sandy stretch that provides access to a natural harbor.
Gibraltar has no rivers or streams to provide drinking water and has virtually no arable land. Although the soil is not suitable for agriculture, in excess of species of plants and flowers grow there. During antiquity, the entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar—the area between Gibraltar and Ceuta—was known as the Pillars of Hercules and was thought to be the western end of the world.
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The Phoenicians were the most proficient seafaring people of The Early History of Gibraltar the ancient world and they sailed out of the Mediterranean through the Strait of Gibraltar. Numerous legends and myths were associated with the massive limestone edifice jutting out into the Mediterranean. The Greeks, who settled on the north coast of the Mediterranean, made frequent voyages in the Aegean and Mediterranean seas.
However, unlike the Phoenicians, they were unwilling to sail through the Strait of Gibraltar into the Atlantic Ocean, even issuing a warning that there was no more beyond the strait, that nothing existed on the other side. The Phoenicians, a Semitic-speaking people who lived along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea just to the north of Palestine and the Dead Sea, improved shipbuilding methods and established international trade routes, carrying goods long distances over the water.
In B. In ancient times, Gibraltar was known as Calpe or Mons Calpe. They converted to Islam in the seventh century, and in the eighth century, they used Gibraltar as a launching point for raids into Spain. However, by the early s, their power was beginning to wane, and in the last Visigoth king, Roderick depicted here , was defeated at the Battle of Guadalete by a combined force of more than 7, Arabs and Berbers led by Tarik ibn Ziyad. Gibraltar was under the rule of a Visigothic king named Roderick. The expedition under the command of Tarif ibn Malik Nakli was a great success.