Historical / Local News, Gibraltar

Since being granted the Freedom of the City in 1971 the Royal Gibraltar Regiment has aimed to exercise that Freedom every two years which includes marching with bayonets fixed, swords drawn and colours flying.

In addition to the British Union Jack, you'll find the flag of Gibraltar flying which features a three towered red castle with keys dangling from it on a white background with a red stripe on the bottom.

You may be curious as to how Gibraltar, physically attached to Spain and many, many miles away from Britain happens to be a British colony and how, unlike other former British colonies, it remains so today.

The British first took possession of Gibraltar back in 1704 when an Anglo-Dutch fleet captured it during the War of the Spanish succession. Attempts to wrest control by force by the Spanish and the French were unfruitful. Likewise the attempt to gain control by banning trade by Franco in 1969, the Gibraltarians voted overwhelmingly (12,138 to 44) to remain under British control and it led to the border between Spain and Gibraltar being closed from 1969-1986.

The reason why Gibraltar is so important? Besides the issue of pride, that would be it's strategic location between Europe and Africa, the British developed it into a naval base and used it for allied landings during WWII.

There were talks between the two governments as recently as 2002 proposing joint sovereignty of Gibraltar but the local residents were having none of that and it remains a self governing British colony.

There used to be a very good political web site for Gibraltar, which seems to have been removed. There are others, and you could also look here:

'http://www.gibnet.com/

And also one of my travelogues, which has an article by an American, and is reproduced with his authorisation.

Read up on the current news and events before you go! Take a look at this fine site:

Gibraltar Chronicle

GIBRALTAR IN THE WEB
There are some interesting pages about Gibraltar (sufix .gi) in the web. Here are some:
www.gribraltar.gi/tourism
www.travelocity.con
Accommodation

While I cannot say I know that much about the culture of the people of Gibraltar, I can generally say that they are a most pleasant people.

To find out more information on Gibraltar I refer you to the people of Gibraltar:







{This picture is of Gibraltar from Spain. If you look to the left of the rock you can see a mountain in Africa. The two together, the rock and the mountain in Africa, I believe are known as 'the pillars of Hercules' of which in ancient times it was thought that anyone who traveled beyond them would not return. The tower on the left is a moorish tower built to watch for African invaders. You see many of these along the Costa del Sol.}