Rock of Ages: Gibraltar in the UK
No. 57, Jan.-Feb. 2026 Gibraltar is a rocky promontory located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, territorially a British Overseas Territory under British sovereignty since 1713. Sovereignty was ceded to the United Kingdom by Spain in the Treaty of Utrecht of 1713, although Spain argues that the Treaty transferred only the city, the castle, the port, and the fortifications, not the surrounding isthmus. Since then, Gibraltar has remained under British administration, maintaining border tensions with Spain. During the Franco period (1969-1985), the border fence was completely closed, isolating the Rock; it was not reopened until 1985, just one year before Spain’s accession to the EEC. More
