Gibraltar History

In ancient times prior to the arrival of the Romans, Phoenicians (from the eastern Mediterranean) and Carthaginians (from North Africa) came to the Iberian Peninsula for trade, but they did not appear to have settled in Gibraltar permanently.  Later, Spain became a province of the Rome Empire.  During the declining years of the Roman Empire in the 5th century, the Vandals from Northern Europe invaded the Iberian Peninsula.  They were driven out some years later by Visigoths, another Germanic tribe, who later formed Spanish kingdoms in the peninsula.

In 711 AD, a Muslim general, Tariq ibn-Ziyad, at the invitation of one of the squabbling Visigoth kingdoms, brought an army from North Africa and landed in Gibraltar.  This began the invasion and occupation of Gibraltar and much of the Iberian Peninsula by the Moors for about seven centuries until 1462 (with a break from 1309 to 1333 when the Castilians captured it). 

In Moorish times, Gibraltar was called Jebel Tariq (Mount of Tariq, in Arabic) in honour of the Muslim general; this is probably where the current name came from.  The Moorish Castle now standing on top of the Rock was built during Moorish occupation.

In 1462, the Spanish expelled the Moors from Gibraltar, and the Duke of Medina Sidonia initially took control of it.  In 1502, Queen Isabella brought it into the hands of the Spanish crown.

In the next two centuries, Gibraltar was involved in several wars.  First was the Battle of Gibraltar in 1607, when the Dutch fleet destroyed the Spanish fleet in the Bay of Gibraltar during the Eighty Years’ War.  Later came the War of Spanish Succession, when Spain was defeated by the combined forces of the British and Dutch fleets in 1704; as a result, Spain ceded Gibraltar to Britain in perpetuity under the Treaty of Utrecht of 1713.  During the American War of Independence, Spain with the assistance of France mounted a blockade of Gibraltar from 1779 to 1783 in an unsuccessful attempt to reclaim it.

Under British rule, Gobraltar proved its strategic importance in wars and during peace time.  It became a key staging point for ships heading into the Mediterranean and to India.  After the  Battle of Trafalgar off the southern coast of Spain in 1805, Lord Nelson’s body was taken to Gibraltar after he was killed before being returned to England for burial.  During WW II, the Rock became an important British naval base and General Eisenhower planned his landing of North Africa from Gibraltar.

In last few decades, Spain has tried several times to reclaim Gibbraltar, but has been turned down each time by Britain, which has declared that it will not enter into talks about sovereignty with Spain without the consent of the people of Gibraltar.  There were also two referendums held in Gibraltar in 1967 and 2002 about the issue of sovereignty; in both cases, the people of Gibraltar overwhelming voted to remain under British rule.  Up to now, the issue remains unresolved at least in the eyes of Spain.