Editing Timeline of the history of Gibraltar

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{{peacock|date=February 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{History of Gibraltar}}

==Prehistoric==
{{see also|Neanderthals of Gibraltar}}
[[File:Neanderthal skull from Forbes' Quarry.jpg|right|thumb|The [[Gibraltar 1]] skull, discovered in 1848 in [[Forbes' Quarry]], was only the second Neanderthal skull and the first adult Neanderthal skull ever found.]]
Evidence of [[Hominidae|hominid]] habitation of Gibraltar dates back to the [[Neanderthal]]s. A Neanderthal skull was discovered in [[Forbes' Quarry]] in 1848, predating the credited discovery in the [[Neanderthal, Germany|Neander Valley]]. In 1926, the skull of a Neanderthal child was found inside the [[Devil's Tower Cave|Devil's Tower]].

[[Mousterian]] deposits found at [[Gorham's Cave]], which are associated with Neanderthals in [[Europe]], have been dated to as recently as ~26,000 to ~22,000 BCE.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://archaeology.about.com/od/neanderthals/a/gorhams_cave.htm |title=Neanderthals at Gorham's Cave, Gibraltar |access-date=17 September 2008 |archive-date=22 September 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080922032940/http://archaeology.about.com/od/neanderthals/a/gorhams_cave.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> This has led to suggestions that Gibraltar was one of the last places the Neanderthals inhabited.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/10/neanderthals/hall-text/10 |title=National Geographic – Last of the Neanderthals |access-date=29 December 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090903105243/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/10/neanderthals/hall-text/10 |archive-date=3 September 2009 |url-status=dead  }}</ref>

Gibraltar's prehistoric [[ecology]] consisted of various flora and fauna, including many rare species. According to biologist [[Clive Finlayson]] of the [[Gibraltar Museum]], the "natural richness of wildlife and plants in the nearby sandy plains, woodlands, shrub lands, wetlands, cliffs, and coastline, probably helped the Neanderthals to persist." 

Archaeological evidence from Gorham's Cave shows the [[Neanderthals of Gibraltar]] likely used it as a shelter for ~100,000 years. The discovery challenges conventional assumptions about the timeline of Neanderthal extinction, traditionally held to coincide with the arrival of [[Cro-Magnon|early modern humans]] in Western Europe.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna14817677|title=Gibraltar|access-date=8 January 2010|last=Choi|first=Charles|year=2006|publisher=NBC News}}</ref>

==Ancient==
[[File:PillarsHerculesPeutingeriana.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Portion of a Roman map showing the Pillars of Hercules (traditionally but erroneously) as an island, with the coasts of Spain and Africa above and below|The [[Pillars of Hercules]] are depicted erroneously as an island on the ''[[Tabula Peutingeriana]]'', an ancient Roman map.]]
The [[Phoenicians]], who visited the area around 950 BCE, named the Rock of Gibraltar ''"Calpe"''. The [[Carthage|Carthaginians]] also visited the Rock. However, neither group appears to have settled permanently. The Greek philosopher [[Plato]] referred to Gibraltar as one of the [[Pillars of Hercules]], along with [[Jebel Musa, Morocco|Jebel Musa]], or [[Monte Hacho]] on the other side of the Strait.

The [[Ancient Rome|Romans]] visited Gibraltar during the 2nd century, but no permanent settlement was known to be established. Following the [[fall of the Western Roman Empire]], Gibraltar was settled by the [[Vandals]] and later the [[Goths]]. Although the [[Visigoths]] remained, the Vandals did not remain for long. The Visigoths remained in the [[Iberian peninsula|Iberian Peninsula]] from 414CE to 711CE. The Gibraltar area and the rest of the South Iberian Peninsula was part of the [[Byzantine Empire]] during the second part of the 6th century, later reverting to the [[Visigothic Kingdom]].

==Muslim rule==
{{see also|Moorish Gibraltar}}The early history of Gibraltar is marked by its strategic significance and frequent changes in control. Starting with Tariq ibn Ziyad’s landing in 711CE, the area saw a series of sieges and shifting rulers, including the [[Almohad Caliphate|Almohads]], [[Nasrid dynasty|Nasrids]], and [[Marinid dynasty|Marinids]], as well as [[Castilians|Castilian]] forces. These events highlight Gibraltar's importance in regional conflicts and its evolving role over the centuries.
* '''30 April 711''' – In his quest for Spain, the [[Umayyad]] general, [[Tariq ibn Ziyad]], sailed across the Strait from [[Ceuta]], leading an army with mainly [[Berber people|Berber]] peoples. He first attempted to land on [[Algeciras]] but failed. Later, in another attempt, departing from present-day [[Morocco]], he managed to land undetected at the southern point of the Rock. Indeed, it was in [[Morocco]] that Gibraltar was named, coming from the Arabian words ''Gabal-Al-Tariq'' (the mountain of Tariq). Little was built during the first four centuries of [[Moorish]] control (see [[Reconquista]]).
* '''1160''' – The [[Almohad]] Sultan [[Abd al-Mu'min]] ordered that a permanent settlement, including a [[castle]], be built. It received the name of ''[[Moorish Gibraltar|Medinat al-Fath]]'' (City of the Victory). On completion of the town's construction, the Sultan crossed the Strait to inspect the works, and remained in Gibraltar for two months. The castle's Tower of Homage is still standing today ([[Moorish Castle]]).
* '''1231''' – After the collapse of the Almohad Empire, Gibraltar was taken by [[Ibn Hud]], [[Taifa]] emir of Murcia.
* '''1237''' – Following the death of [[Ibn Hud]], Gibraltar changed hands again as his domains were handed over to [[Muhammad I of Granada|Muhammad ibn al-Ahmar]], the founder of the [[Nasrid dynasty|Nasrid]] [[Emirate of Granada]].
* '''1274''' – The second Nasrid king, [[Muhammed II al-Faqih]], gave Gibraltar over to the Marinids<nowiki/> as payment for their help against the Christian kingdoms.
* '''1309''' – While [[Ferdinand IV of Castile|King Ferdinand IV of Castile]] laid [[Siege of Algeciras (1309)|siege to Algeciras]], [[Alonso Pérez de Guzmán]] (known in the Spanish records as ''Guzmán el Bueno'') was sent to capture Gibraltar, resulting in the [[First siege of Gibraltar|First Siege of Gibraltar]]. The Castilians first seized the Upper Rock, from which the town itself was bombarded. The garrison surrendered one month later. At this point in time, Gibraltar had about 1,500 inhabitants.
* '''31 January 1310''' – Gibraltar was granted its first charter by King Ferdinand IV. This charter included various incentives to settle in the city, such as the offer of clemency for (some) past crimes to anyone who lived in Gibraltar for one year and one day. This event marked the establishment of the Gibraltar council.

* '''1316''' – Gibraltar was unsuccessfully besieged by the Azafid [[qaid|caid]] Yahya ibn Abi Talib ([[Second Siege of Gibraltar]]), an ally of the Emirate of Granada.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|last=Vidal Castro|first=Francisco |ref={{harvid|Vidal Castro: Ismail I}} |title=Ismail I|encyclopedia=Diccionario Biográfico electrónico|location=Madrid|publisher=[[Real Academia de la Historia]]|url=http://dbe.rah.es/biografias/16656/ismail-i|language=es}}</ref>
* '''June 1333''' – A [[Marinid]] army, led by [[Abd al-Malik Abd al-Wahid|Abd al-Malik]], the son of [[Abu Al-Hasan Ali ibn Othman|Abul Hassan]], the Marinid sultan, recovered Gibraltar, after a five-month siege ([[Third siege of Gibraltar|Third Siege of Gibraltar]]).
:[[Alfonso XI of Castile|King Alfonso XI of Castile]] attempted to retake Gibraltar aided by the fleet of the Castilian Admiral [[Alonso Jofre Tenorio]]. Even a ditch was dug across the isthmus. While laying the siege, the king was attacked by a Nasrid army from Granada. Therefore, the siege ended in a truce, allowing the Marinids to keep Gibraltar ([[Fourth siege of Gibraltar]]).
* '''March 1344''' – After the two-year [[Siege of Algeciras (1342-1344)]], [[Algeciras]] was taken over by the Castilian forces. Because of this, Gibraltar became the main Marinid port in the Iberian Peninsula. During the siege, Gibraltar played a key role as the supply base of the besieged.
* '''1349''' – Gibraltar was unsuccessfully besieged by the Castilian forces led by King Alfonso XI.
* '''1350''' – The siege was resumed by Alfonso XI ([[Fifth siege of Gibraltar]]). It was again unsuccessful, mainly due to the arrival of the [[Black Death]], which decimated many besiegers, including the king himself.
* '''1369 –''' The [[Castilian Civil War]] ended with the murder of [[Peter I of Castile|King Peter I]] by the pretender Henry (to be known as [[Henry II of Castile|Henry II]]). Afterwards, the [[Nasrid dynasty|Nasrid]] king of [[Emirate of Granada|Granada]], [[Muhammad V of Granada|Muhammad V]], former ally of Peter, took over Algeciras after the 3-day [[Siege of Algeciras (1369)]].
* '''1374''' '''–''' Amid internal instability in the Marinid [[Sultanate of Fez]], [[Abu al-Abbas Ahmad al-Mustansir]], sought [[Muhammad V of Granada]]’s assistance. Either as a condition of the alliance or as reward for Muhammad's successful expedition in Africa, Gibraltar was ceded to the Nasrids of Granada.
* '''1379''' '''–''' During this time, Gibraltar remained under Marinid control. When Algeciras was razed to the ground, and its harbour was rendered unusable, Gibraltar's significance in the strait trade increased. Subsequently, Muhammad and Henry signed a truce, preventing the Christian kings from attempting to reclaim the city.
* '''1410''' – The garrison in Gibraltar mutinied against the King of Granada, and pledged allegiance to the [[kingdom of Fez|King of Fez]], [[Fayd of Fez|Fayd]]. Fayd sent his brother, Abu Said, over to Gibraltar to take possession of the city. Fayd also seized control of other Nasrid ports, including [[Marbella]] and [[Estepona]].
* '''1411''' – The son of Yusuf III of Granada, Ahmad, recovered Marbella and Estepona. He then laid siege to Gibraltar ([[Sixth siege of Gibraltar]]), and recovered the city for the kingdom of Granada.
* '''1436''' – [[Enrique Pérez de Guzmán, 2nd Count of Niebla|Enrique de Guzmán]], the second Count of Niebla, and owner of vast estates in Southern [[Andalusia]], launched an assault on Gibraltar ([[Seventh siege of Gibraltar]]). However, his attack was repelled, and the Castilian forces suffered heavy losses. 

==Castilian/Spanish rule==
* '''1462''' 20 August – Castilian forces again captured Gibraltar following the Eighth Siege of Gibraltar. (See [[Reconquista]]). An immediate dispute broke out between the [[House of Medina Sidonia]] (the Guzmán family) and the House of Arcos (the Ponce de León family) about the possession of the town. Finally, the initiative of [[Juan Alonso de Guzmán, 1st Duke of Medina Sidonia|Juan Alonso de Guzmán]], 1st [[Duke of Medina Sidonia]], succeeded and he took possession of the town as personal property. However, the King of Castile, [[Henry IV of Castile|Henry IV]], declared Gibraltar to be Crown property, and not the personal property of the Guzman family. Henry IV restored the charter granted to Gibraltar in 1310 and took two additional measures: the lands previously belonging to [[Algeciras]] (destroyed in 1369) were granted to Gibraltar; and the status of [[collegiate church]] was solicited from the pope [[Pius II]] and granted to the parish church of Saint Mary the Crowned ({{langx|es|link=no|iglesia parroquial de Santa María la Coronada}}), now the [[Cathedral of St. Mary the Crowned]], on the site of the old main Moorish Mosque. [[Bernard of Clairvaux|St. Bernard of Clairvaux]], whose feast falls on 20 August, became the [[patron saint]] of Gibraltar.
* '''1463''' – In a tour through Andalusia, Henry IV was the first Christian monarch to visit Gibraltar.
* '''1467''' July – In the midst of a nobility revolt against the King, the forces of the Duke of Medina Sidonia, after a 16-month siege, took Gibraltar. [[Alfonso of Castile, Prince of Asturias|Alfonso of Castile]], half-brother of Henry IV, and puppet pretender handled by the nobility, granted him the Lordship of Gibraltar (Ninth Siege of Gibraltar).
* '''1469''' 3 June – After the death of Alfonso de Castilla, the 1st Duke of Medina Sidonia, his son and heir [[Enrique de Guzman, 2nd Duke of Medina Sidonia|Enrique de Guzman]], 2nd Duke of Medina Sidonia, changed side and in reward, saw the status of Gibraltar, as part of the domains of the Duke, confirmed by [[Isabella I of Castile|Queen Isabella I of Castile]].
* '''1470''' 20 December – A new charter was granted to the town of Gibraltar, now a nobiliary town, based in the Antequera charter.
* '''1478''' 30 September – The [[Catholic Monarchs]] granted the title of [[Marquis of Gibraltar]] to the Duke of Medina Sidonia.
* '''1479''' 20 January – [[Isabella I of Castile|Queen Isabella I of Castile]] and [[Ferdinand II of Aragon|King Ferdinand II of Aragon]], the Catholic Monarchs, jointly rule the kingdoms of Castile and Aragon, including Gibraltar.
* '''1492''' 31 March – After conquering [[Granada]], the Catholic Monarchs sign the [[Alhambra Decree]], ordering the [[History of the Jews in Spain#Edict of Expulsion|expulsion of the Jews from Spain]], to take effect from 31 July 1492. Many passed through Gibraltar on their way into exile in North Africa.
* '''1492''' Summer – After the death of the former Duke, his son and heir, [[Juan Alonso Pérez de Guzmán, 3rd Duke of Medina Sidonia|Juan Alfonso Perez de Guzman, 3rd Duke of Medina Sidonia]], saw his lordship over Gibraltar reluctantly renewed by the Catholic Monarchs.
* '''1497''' – Gibraltar became the main base in the conquest of [[Melilla]] by the troops of the Duke of Medina Sidonia.
* '''1501''' 2 December – Acknowledging the importance of the town, the Catholic Monarchs asked the Duke of Medina Sidonia for the return of Gibraltar to the domains of the crown. The Duke accepted the Royal request and ceded the town to the monarchs.
* '''1502''' 2 January – Garcilaso de la Vega<ref>{{cite book |last=López de Ayala |first=Ignacio |title=The History of Gibraltar: From the Earliest Period of Its Occupation by the Saracens : Comprising Details of the Numerous Conflicts for Its Possession Between the Moors and the Christians, Until Its Final Surrender in 1462 : and of Subsequent Events : with an Appendix Containing Interesting Documents
 |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_4npLN5NTGEUC|access-date=27 July 2013
 |year=1845 |publisher=William Pickering|page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_4npLN5NTGEUC/page/n129 106]}}</ref> took possession of the town on behalf of the [[Isabella I of Castile|Queen Isabella I of Castile]].
[[File:Original coat of arms of Gibraltar.jpg|left|thumb|The [[Coat of arms of Gibraltar|arms]] granted to the city of Gibraltar by a [[Warrant (law)|Royal Warrant]] passed in [[Toledo, Spain|Toledo]] on 10 July 1502 by [[Isabella I of Castile]]]]
* '''1502''' 10 July – By a [[Warrant (law)|Royal Warrant]] passed in [[Toledo, Spain|Toledo]] by [[Isabella I of Castile]], Gibraltar was granted its [[Coat of arms of Gibraltar|coat of arms]]: "An escutcheon on which the upper two thirds shall be a white field and on the said field set a red castle, and below the said castle, on the other third of the escutcheon, which must be a red field in which there must be a white line between the castle and the said red field, there shall be a golden key which hangs by a chain from the said castle, as are here figured". The Castle and Key remain the Arms of Gibraltar to this day.
* '''1506''' – Alleging a false donation by [[Philip I of Castile|King Philip I of Castile]], the Duke of Medina Sidonia attempted to recover Gibraltar by besieging the town. The siege was unsuccessful, and the Duke was admonished by the Regency and forced to pay a fee to the town. The town received the title of "Most Loyal City" (Tenth Siege of Gibraltar). The Duke died in 1507.
* '''1516''' 14 March – Spain becomes a united kingdom under [[Charles I of Spain|Charles I]].
* '''1540''' 8 September – [[Barbary pirate|Corsairs]] from the [[Barbary Coast]] (ruled by [[Hayreddin Barbarossa|Barbarossa]]) landed at Gibraltar in sixteen [[galley]]s, looting the town and taking away many captives.<ref name="Jackson">{{cite book|last=Jackson|first=Sir William Godfrey Fothergill|author-link=William Jackson (British Army officer)|title=The Rock of the Gibraltarians; A History of Gibraltar|publisher=Fairleigh Dickinson University Press|location=London and Toronto|year=1987|edition=Second|pages=73–75|chapter=5. Spanish Neglect: The Ninth and Tenth Sieges and the Corsair Raid, 1462 to 1560|isbn=0-8386-3237-8}}</ref>
* '''1552''' – After the requests from the inhabitants of the town, Charles I of Spain (the Emperor Charles V) sent the Italian engineer [[Giovanni Battista Calvi]] to strengthen the defenses of the town. A wall was built (nowadays known as [[Charles V Wall]]); also a ditch by the wall of the town and a drawbridge at the Landport (''Puerta de Tierra'').
[[File:Battle of Gibraltar 1607.jpg|thumb|right|280px|The Battle of Gibraltar, by Hendrick Cornelisz Vroom. Oil on canvas. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam]]
* '''1567''' – [[Juan Mateos]] turned his large house in the Upper Town into a hospital. It was [[Gibraltar]]'s [[St Bernard's Hospital|first hospital]], and remained on the same site serving the people of Gibraltar for almost four and a half centuries.
* '''1606''' – The [[Morisco]]s (the descendants of the Muslim inhabitants in Spain) were expelled from Spain by King [[Philip III of Spain|Philip III]]. Many passed through Gibraltar on their way into exile in North Africa.
* '''1607''' 25 April – During the [[Eighty Years' War]] between the [[Dutch Republic|United Provinces]] and the King of Spain, a Dutch fleet surprised and engaged a Spanish fleet anchored at the [[Bay of Gibraltar]] ([[Battle of Gibraltar (1607)|Battle of Gibraltar]]).
* '''1621''' – Second battle of Gibraltar, in which a Spanish squadron crushed the [[Dutch East India Company|VOC]] at the strait of Gibraltar – [[Battle of Gibraltar (1621)]]
* '''1649''' – Typhoid epidemic in the town.
* '''1656''' – In a letter<ref name="radio4">{{cite web |author=BBC Radio 4 |date=1 November 2005 |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/empire/episodes/episode_27.shtml |title=Gibraltar |work=The Sceptred Island: Empire. A 90 part history of the British Empire |access-date=16 December 2005}}</ref> to [[Edward Montagu, 1st Earl of Sandwich|Councillor General Montagu]] (afterwards Earl of Sandwich), General-at-sea and one of the Protector's personal friends, [[Oliver Cromwell|Cromwell]] mentioned the necessity of securing a permanent base at the entry of the Mediterranean, preferably Gibraltar (the first suggestion for the occupation of Gibraltar as a naval base had been made at an English Council of War held at sea on 20 October 1625).

==The War of the Spanish Succession==
* '''1700''' 1 November – King Charles II of Spain died leaving no descendants. In the autumn, he had made a will bequeathing the whole of the Spanish possessions to Prince [[Philip V of Spain|Philip of Bourbon]], a grandson of [[Louis XIV]] backed by France. The other pretender, an Austrian Habsburg, [[Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor|Archduke Charles]], supported by the [[Holy Roman Empire]], England and the Netherlands did not accept Charles II's testament.
* '''1701''' September – England, the [[Netherlands]], and [[Austria]] signed the [[Treaty of The Hague (1701)|Treaty of The Hague]]. By this treaty, they accepted Philippe of Anjou as King of Spain, but allotted Austria the Spanish territories in Italy and the [[Spanish Netherlands]]. England and the Netherlands, meanwhile, were to retain their commercial rights in Spain. Later (in 1703), [[Portugal]], Savoy and some German states joined the alliance.
* '''1702''' May – Formal beginning of the [[War of the Spanish Succession]].
* '''1703''' 12 February – The Archduke Charles was proclaimed King of Castile and Aragon in [[Vienna]]. He took the name of Charles III<ref>{{cite web |author=Virginia León Sanz |year=2000 |url=http://www.bib.uab.cat/pub/manuscrits/02132397n18p41.pdf |title=El reinado del archiduque Carlos en España: la continuidad de un programa dinástico de gobierno (The reign of the Archduke Charles in Spain: the continuity of a dynastic government program), in Spanish |work=Manuscrits. Revista d'història moderna |publisher=Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (Spain) |access-date=16 December 2005 }}{{dead link|date=August 2017|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

===The Gibraltar capture===
''(A discrepancy exists between Spanish and British sources due to differences in calendar systems. England was still using the [[Julian calendar]] in 1704, which lagged 11 days behind the Gregorian calendar used by Spain. Thus, the siege began on 21 July in the Julian calendar (1 August in the Gregorian).''
[[File:George Rooke.jpg|thumb|left|200px|George Rooke, the commander of the Anglo-Dutch fleet that conquered Gibraltar on behalf of the Archduke Charles]]
* '''1704''' 1 August([[New Style|NS]]): (21 July([[Old Style|OS]])) – During the [[War of the Spanish Succession]], and when returning from a failed expedition to Barcelona, an Anglo-Dutch fleet, under the command of Sir [[George Rooke]], chief commander of the Alliance Navy, began a new siege (the eleventh siege of the town). They demanded its unconditional surrender and an oath of loyalty to the [[Habsburg]] pretender to the Spanish throne, the [[Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor|Archduke Charles]]. The Governor of Gibraltar, [[Diego de Salinas]], refused the ultimatum. A force of 1,800 [[Netherlands Marine Corps|Dutch Royal Marines]] and [[Royal Marines|British Royal Marines]], led by [[George of Hesse-Darmstadt|Prince George of Hesse-Darmstadt]], the Alliance Army commander in Spain, began the siege of Gibraltar in the name of Archduke Charles. A small contingent of [[Spaniards]], primarily [[Catalans]], also joined the Prince’s forces.
* '''1704''' 3–4 August – Heavy shelling targeted the castle and the town overnight.
* '''1704''' 4 August – The Governor [[Diego de Salinas]] surrendered the town to Prince George of Hesse, who took it in the name of Archduke, as Charles III, King of Castile and Aragon. This was the end of the Eleventh Siege of Gibraltar (a map on the situation of attacking forces can be seen in<ref>{{cite web |author=[[Tito Benady]] |date=August 2004|url=http://www.chronicle.gi/terc/attack%20on%20gib/05.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060304033326/http://www.chronicle.gi/terc/attack%20on%20gib/05.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=4 March 2006|title = The Attack on Gibraltar. Friday 2 August 1704 |work=Tercentenary Special |publisher=Gibraltar Chronicle |access-date=16 December 2005 }}</ref>)
: The exact beginning of the British control over Gibraltar is hard to determine. From the eighteenth century, Spanish sources reported that immediately after the takeover of the city, Sir [[George Rooke]], the British admiral,<ref>[[John Campbell (author)|Campbell, John]], 'Of Sir George Rooke', in ''Naval history of Great Britain: including the history and lives of the British admirals, Volume 4'', (London: Baldwyn and Company, 1818), p. 65</ref><ref>Murray, John Joseph, ''George I, the Baltic, and the Whig split of 1717: a study in diplomacy and propaganda'', (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1969), p. 58</ref><ref>Robinson, Howard, ''The Development of the British Empire'', (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1923), p. 81</ref> on his own initiative, caused the British flag to be hoisted, and took possession of the Rock in the name of [[Anne, Queen of Great Britain]], whose government ratified the occupation. On the other hand, even the British or the Gibraltarians sometimes date the beginning of British sovereignty in 1704 (for instance, in his speech at the United Nations in 1994, the Gibraltar Chief Minister at the time, [[Joe Bossano]], stated that ''Gibraltar has been a British colony ever since it was taken by Britain in 1704''<ref>{{cite web |author=Joe Bossano |year=1994 |url=http://www.gibnet.com/texts/jbun1.htm |title=The Fight for Self – Determination. Joe Bossano at the United Nations |publisher=Gibraltar... The unofficial homepage. Reference Documents about Gibraltar and its political struggles |access-date=16 December 2005 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20051215144840/http://gibnet.com/texts/jbun1.htm |archive-date = 15 December 2005}}</ref>). Also, some British sources have accounted the flag story (''He [Rooke] had the Spanish flag hauled down and the English flag hoisted in its stead'';<ref>{{cite web |author=David Eade |year=2004 |url=http://www.gibraltar2004.gov.gi/history.html |title=1704 and all that |work=Celebrating 300 Years of British Gibraltar (Tercentenary Web Site) |publisher=Government Tercentenary Office, Gibraltar Government |access-date=16 December 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051215120708/http://www.gibraltar2004.gov.gi/history.html |archive-date=15 December 2005 |url-status=dead  }}</ref> ''Rooke's men quickly raised the British flag ... and Rooke claimed the Rock in the name of Queen Anne'';<ref name="radio4"/> or ''Sir George Rooke, the British admiral, on his own responsibility caused the British flag to be hoisted, and took possession in name of Queen Anne, whose government ratified the occupation''<ref>{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Gibraltar#History |display=Gibraltar § History|volume=11|page=491}}</ref>).
[[File:Bay of Gibraltar 18th century engraving.jpg|thumb|right|310px|Gibraltar antique engraving by Gabriel Bodenehr, c.1704. From his rare "Curioses Staats- und Kriegs-Theatrum".]]
: However, it is claimed by present-day historians, both Spanish and British, that this version is apocryphal since no contemporary source accounts it. Isidro Sepúlveda,<ref>''Gibraltar. La razón y la fuerza'', p. 90.</ref> William Jackson<ref>''The Rock of the Gibraltarians. A History of Gibraltar'', p. 99.</ref> and George Hills<ref name="hills1">''Rock of Contention. A History of Gibraltar'', p. 475-477.</ref> explicitly refute it (Sepúlveda points out that if this had actually happened, it would have caused a big crisis in the Alliance supporting the Archduke Charles; George Hills explains that the story was first accounted by the Marquis of San Felipe, who wrote his book "Comentarios de la guerra de España e historia de su rey Felipe V el animoso" in 1725, more than twenty years after the fact; the marquis was not an eye-witness and cannot be considered as a reliable source for the events that took place in Gibraltar in 1704. As Hills concludes: "''The flag myth ... may perhaps be allowed now to disappear from Anglo-Spanish polemics. On the one side it has been used to support a claim to the Rock 'by right of conquest'; on the other to ... pour on Britain obloquy for perfidy''"<ref name="hills1"/>).
:What does seem nowadays to be proved is that the British troops who had landed on the South Mole area raised their flag to signal their presence to the ships and avoid being fired upon by their own side. Regardless of the exact events, Gibraltar officially passed out of the rule of [[Philip V of Spain]] in 1704. In 2004, a statue of [[George Rooke|Sir George Rooke]] was unveiled to mark the 300th anniversary of this historic event.
* '''1704''' 4–7 August. Although the Grand Alliance initially ordered respect for civilians<ref name="Hills1974">{{cite book |author=George Hills |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KEFpAAAAMAAJ |title=Rock of contention: a history of Gibraltar |publisher=Hale |year=1974 |isbn=9780709143529 |page=165 |access-date=7 April 2011}}''Ormonde issued a proclamation.  "They were come not to invade or conquer any part of Spain or to make any acquisitions for Her Majesty Queen Anne...but rather to deliver Spaniards from the mean subjection into which a small and corrupt party of men have brought them by delivering up that former glorious monarchy to the dominion of the perpetual enemies of it, the French"  He laid particular stress on the respect that was to be shown to priests and nuns - "We have already ordered under pain of death of officers and soldiers under out command not to molest any person of what rank or quality so ever in the exercise of their religion in any manner whatsoever.''</ref> to win local support, discipline quickly broke down, as it had during the 1702 raid on Cádiz.<ref name="Garratt2007">{{cite book |author=G. T. Garratt |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U7jBrUXCOrUC |title=Gibraltar and the Mediterranean |date=March 2007 |publisher=Lightning Source Inc |isbn=9781406708509 |page=44 |access-date=7 April 2011}}''One has but to read the books left to us by the sailors to realize the peculiar horror of the life between-decks. Cooped up there, like sardines in a tin, were several hundreds of men, gathered by force and kept together by brutality. A lower-deck was the home of every vice, every baseness and every misery''</ref><ref name="Francis1975">{{cite book |author=David Francis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JHgePQAACAAJ |title=The First Peninsular War: Seventeen-Two to Seventeen-Thirteen |date=1 April 1975 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=9780312292607 |page=115 |access-date=7 April 2011}}''But some of the sailors, before they could be recalled to their ships broke loose in the town and plundered the inhabitants''</ref> This led to widespread chaos: numerous reports of sexual violence, the desecration or conversion of all but one Catholic church (St. Mary the Crowned, now the [[Cathedral of St. Mary the Crowned|Cathedral]]) into military storehouses, and the destruction of religious symbols like the statue of [[Our Lady of Europe]]. Angry Spanish inhabitants took violent reprisals against the occupiers. English and Dutch soldiers and sailors were attacked and killed, and their bodies were thrown into wells and cesspits.<ref name="Jackson-99">[[#Jackson|Jackson]], p. 99.</ref> After order was restored,<ref name="Hills1974_2">{{cite book|author=George Hills|title=Rock of contention: a history of Gibraltar|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KEFpAAAAMAAJ|access-date=7 April 2011|year=1974|publisher=Hale|page=175|isbn=9780709143529}}''"Great disorders", he found, "had been committed by the boats crews that came on shore and marines; but the General Officers took great care to prevent them, by continually patrolling with their sergeants, and sending them on board their ships and punishing the marines''</ref><ref name="Andrews1958">{{cite book|author=Allen Andrews|title=Proud fortress; the fighting story of Gibraltar|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ivmIo3qnG74C|access-date=7 April 2011|year=1958|publisher=Evans|page=35}}''a few of them hanged as rioters after the sacking.  One Englishman had to throw dice with a Dutchman to determine who should hang '''pour encourager les autres.'''  They stood under the gallows and diced on a drum.  The Englishman threw nine to the Dutchman's ten, and suffered execution before his mates.''</ref> despite the surrender agreement promising property and religious rights,<ref name="Jackson1987_4">{{cite book|author=Sir William Godfrey Fothergill Jackson|title=The Rock of the Gibraltarians: a history of Gibraltar|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y0FpAAAAMAAJ|access-date=7 April 2011|year=1987|publisher=Farleigh Dickinson University Press|isbn=9780838632376|page=99}} ''Article V promised freedom of religion and full civil rights''</ref> most of the population left with the garrison on 7 August, citing loyalty to Philip.<ref name="Sayer-quotes-letter">{{cite book|author=Frederick Sayer|title=The history of Gibraltar and of its political relation to events in Europe|url=https://archive.org/details/historygibralta01sayegoog|access-date=4 February 2011|year=1862|publisher=Saunders|page=[https://archive.org/details/historygibralta01sayegoog/page/n135 115]}}Letter Of The Authorities To King Philip V. 115

Sire,

The loyalty with which this city has served all the preceding kings, as well as your Majesty, has ever been notorious to them. In this last event, not less than on other occasions, it has endeavoured to exhibit its fidelity at the price of lives and property, which many of the inhabitants have lost in the combat; and with great honour and pleasure did they sacrifice themselves in defence of your Majesty, who may rest well assured that we who have survived (for our misfortune), had we experienced a similar fate, would have died with glory, and would not now suffer the great grief and distress of seeing your Majesty, our lord and master, dispossessed of so loyal a city.

Subjects, but courageous as such, we will submit to no other government than that of your Catholic Majesty, in whose defence and service we shall pass the remainder of our lives; departing from this fortress, where, on account of the superior force of the enemy who attacked it, and the fatal chance of our not having any garrison for its defence, except a few poor and raw peasants, amounting to less than 300, we have not been able to resist the assault, as your Majesty must have already learnt from the governor or others.

Our just grief allows us to notice no other fact for the information of your Majesty, but that all the inhabitants, and each singly, fulfilled their duties in their several stations; and our governor and alcalde have worked with the greatest zeal and activity, without allowing the horrors of the incessant cannonading to deter them from their duties, to which they attended personally, encouraging all with great devotion. May Divine Providence guard the royal person of your Majesty,

Gibraltar, August 5th (N. S.), 1704.</ref> Several factors influenced the decision including the expectation of a counterattack<ref name="Francis1975_3">{{cite book|author=David Francis|title=The First Peninsular War: Seventeen-Two to Seventeen-Thirteen|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JHgePQAACAAJ|access-date=7 April 2011|date=1 April 1975|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=9780312292607|page=115}} ''...plundered the inhabitants.  Partly on account of this, partly because they expected Gibraltar to be retaken soon, all the inhabitants except a very few...chose to leave''</ref> and the violence<ref name="Jackson1987_5">{{cite book|author=Sir William Godfrey Fothergill Jackson|title=The Rock of the Gibraltarians: a history of Gibraltar|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y0FpAAAAMAAJ|access-date=7 April 2011|year=1987|publisher=Farleigh Dickinson University Press|isbn=9780838632376|pages=99–100}} ''Although Article V promised freedom or religion and full civil rights to all Spaniards who wished to stay in Habsburg Gibraltar, few decided to run the risk of remaining in the town. Fortresses changed hands quite frequently in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The English hold on Gibraltar might be only temporary. When the fortunes of war changed, the Spanish citizens would be able to re-occupy their property and rebuild their lives. ... Hesse's and Rooke's senior officers did their utmost to impose discipline, but the inhabitants worst fears were confirmed: women were insulted and outraged; Roman Catholic churches and institutions were taken over as stores and for other military purposes ...; and the whole town suffered at the hands of the ship's crew and marines who came ashore. Many bloody reprisals were taken by inhabitants before they left, bodies of murdered Englishmen and Dutchmen being thrown down wells and cesspits. By the time discipline was fully restored, few of the inhabitants wished or dared to remain.''</ref> during the capture, which ultimately proved disastrous for the Habsburg cause.<ref name="Francis1975_4">{{cite book|author=David Francis|title=The First Peninsular War: Seventeen-Two to Seventeen-Thirteen|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JHgePQAACAAJ|access-date=7 April 2011|date=1 April 1975|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=9780312292607|page=115}}  ''So the damage was done and the chance of winning the adherence of the Andalusians was lost.''</ref> The subsequent siege failed to dislodge the Habsburg forces and the refugees settled around [[Algeciras]] and the hermitage of [[San Roque, Cádiz|San Roque]].<ref name="Jackson1987_6">{{cite book|author=Sir William Godfrey Fothergill Jackson|title=The Rock of the Gibraltarians: a history of Gibraltar|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y0FpAAAAMAAJ|access-date=7 April 2011|year=1987|publisher=Farleigh Dickinson University Press|isbn=9780838632376|page=100}}</ref> The Alliance's conduct aroused anger in Spain against the 'heretics', and once again the chance of winning over Andalusians to the Imperial cause was lost. Prince George was the first to complain, which was resented by Byng who had led the fighting and who in turn blamed the Prince and his few Spanish or Catalan supporters.<ref name="francis115">Francis: ''The First Peninsular War: 1702–1713,'' 115</ref> Rooke complained in a letter home that the Spaniards were so exasperated against the Alliance that 'they use the prisoners they take as barbarously as the Moors'.<ref name="trevelyan414">Trevelyan: ''England Under Queen Anne: Blenheim,'' 414</ref> Spain attempted to retake Gibraltar in [[Siege of Gibraltar (1727)|1727]] and most notably in [[Great Siege of Gibraltar|1779]], when it entered the [[American Revolutionary War]] on the [[Thirteen Colonies|American]] side as an [[Pacte de Famille#Later Franco-Spanish Pacts|ally]] of [[Early Modern France|France]].<ref>"Gibraltar." Microsoft [[Encarta]] 2006 [DVD]. [[Microsoft Corporation]], 2005.</ref>
* '''1704''' 7 August. A dejected procession, numbering some 4,000 according to most sources, such as Hills<ref>''Rock of Contention. A History of Gibraltar'', p. 176</ref> or Jackson,<ref name="Gibraltarians p. 101">''The Rock of the Gibraltarians. A History of Gibraltar'', p. 101.</ref> filed out of the Land Port with Queen Isabella's banner at their head. They were led by the Spanish Governor, Diego de Salinas, the Spanish garrison, with their three brass cannon, the religious orders, the [[City Council of Gibraltar|city council]], and all those inhabitants who did not wish to take the oath of allegiance to Charles III, as asked by the terms of surrender. They took with them the symbols and objects of Spanish Gibraltar's history: the council and ecclesiastical records, including the historical documents signed by the Spanish [[Catholic Monarchs]] in 1502, granting Gibraltar's coat of arms, and the statue of the [[Mary, mother of Jesus|Saint Mary the Crowned]].<ref name="Gibraltarians p. 101"/><ref>''Rock of Contention. A History of Gibraltar'', p. 176.</ref> Most of them took refuge in the proximity of the nearby Chapel of [[Saint Roch|San Roque]], possibly hoping for a rapid reconquest of Gibraltar, which never materialized. There, a new settlement was formed, being granted a council two years later (1706), with the name of [[San Roque, Cádiz|San Roque]], and being considered by the Spanish Crown as the heir to the lost town of Gibraltar (historical objects and records predating 1704 were subsequently taken to San Roque where they remain to this day.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.sanroque.es/ayuntamiento/servicios-municipales/3o-centenario/articulos/historia-de-san-roque-donde-reside-la-de-gibraltar | title = History of San Roque, donde reside la de Gibraltar (''History of San Roque, where that of Gibraltar lives on''), in Spanish | publisher = San Roque City Council|access-date =30 August 2006 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060512023950/http://www.sanroque.es/ayuntamiento/servicios-municipales/3o-centenario/articulos/historia-de-san-roque-donde-reside-la-de-gibraltar |archive-date = 12 May 2006}}</ref>) King Philip V of Spain dubbed San Roque as ''"My city of Gibraltar resident in its Campo''".<ref name="Gibraltarians p. 101"/> Others settled down in what today is [[Los Barrios]] or even further away, in the ruins of the abandoned city of [[Algeciras]]. Only about seventy people remained in the town, most of them religious, people without family, or belonging to the [[Genoa|Genoese]] trader colony<ref>''Gibraltar. La razón y la fuerza'', p. 91.</ref><ref>''Rock of Contention. A History of Gibraltar'', p. 177.</ref> (see list in<ref>{{note|oldinhabitants}} {{cite web | url = http://www.gibconnect.com/~loonylenny/Oldinhabitants/oldinhabitants.htm | title = The Old (Spanish) Inhabitants of Gibraltar who remained in town after the Rock was captured by the British in 1704 | work = Loony Lenny online. Gibraltar for kids | access-date = 15 December 2005 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20051212200555/http://www.gibconnect.com/~loonylenny/Oldinhabitants/oldinhabitants.htm | archive-date = 12 December 2005 | df = dmy-all }}</ref>).
* '''1704''' 24 August – The Alliance fleet, under the command of Rooke, set sail from Gibraltar, and intercepted a joint Spanish-French fleet that attempted to recover Gibraltar by the coast of [[Málaga]] ([[Battle of Vélez-Málaga]]). The result was uncertain, with heavy losses on both sides, but the Spanish-French fleet was stopped and prevented from arriving at Gibraltar.

===The first Spanish siege (Twelfth Siege of Gibraltar)===
* '''1704''' 5 September – Troops of France and Spain under the [[Francisco Castillo Fajardo, marquis of Villadarias|marquis of Villadarias]], General Captain of Andalusia, started to besiege Gibraltar to try to recover it (known as the Twelfth Siege of Gibraltar). In the town, the Marine brigade, still under the command of the British admiral Sir [[John Leake]], and the governor, Prince George of Hesse-Darmstadt (who had commanded the land forces in August), and reinforced shortly before by a further 400 [[Royal Marines]], held the fortress against repeated attacks.
* '''1704''' 11 November – A notable incident during the siege: 500 Spanish volunteer [[grenadier (soldier)|grenadier]]s tried to surprise the garrison after being led up a concealed path to the top of The Rock by a Spanish [[goatherd]] from Gibraltar, [[Simón Susarte]]. Captain Fisher of the Marines, with 17 of his men, successfully defended the Round Tower against their assault. A contemporary report of this noted defence says, "Encouraged by the Prince of Hesse, the garrison did more than could humanly be expected, and the English Marines gained an immortal glory".
* '''1705''' January – Philip V replaced Villadarias with the [[Marshal of France]] [[René de Froulay, Count de Tessé|de Tessé]].
* '''1705''' 7 February – The last assault before the arrival of de Tessé was executed. The Gibraltar wall was damaged, but French troops refused to go on until the arrival of de Tessé (who arrived the day after). The assault becomes unsuccessful.
* '''1705''' 31 March – The Count de Tessé gave up the siege and retired.

===During the rest of the war===

Although nominally in the hands of the Archduke Charles, and garrisoned with both English and Dutch regiments, Britain began to monopolize the rule of the town. Even if the formal transfer of sovereignty would not take place until the signature of the Treaty of Utrecht, the British Governor and garrison become the ''de facto'' rulers of the town.{{Citation needed|date=February 2011}}
* '''1705''' 2 August – The Archduke Charles stopped over in Gibraltar on his way to the territories of the [[Crown of Aragon]]. The Prince of Hesse joined him, thus leaving the town (he would die one month later in the siege of [[Barcelona]]). The English Major General, [[John Shrimpton]], was left as governor (appointed by the Archduke Charles on the recommendation of [[Anne, Queen of Great Britain|Queen Anne]]).
* '''1706''' 17 February – Queen Anne though not yet the legal ruler of the territory,<ref>Gibraltar was formally ceded to the United Kingdom by the Treaty of Utrecht. Up to that point, it was, at least nominally, a Habsburg possession. As William Jackson points out in ''The Rock of the Gibraltarians. A History of Gibraltar'', p. 113: "As the ink dried on the Treaty of Utrecht, which turned Gibraltar from a Habsburg into a British fortress and city on the southern extremity of the Iberian peninsula..."</ref> declared Gibraltar a free port (upon request of the Sultan of Morocco, who wanted Gibraltar being given this status in return for supplying the town).<ref>''The Rock of the Gibraltarians. A History of Gibraltar'', p. 114.</ref>
* '''1707''' 24 December – The first British Governor directly appointed by Queen Anne, [[Roger Elliott (governor)|Roger Elliott]], took up residence in the [[The Convent (Gibraltar)|Convent of the Franciscan friars]].
* '''1711''' – The British government, then in the hands of the [[Tories (British political party)|Tories]], covertly ordered the British Gibraltar governor, [[Thomas Stanwix]], to expel any foreign troops in order to foster Great Britain's sole right to Gibraltar in the negotiations running up between Britain and France. Although he answered positively, he allowed a Dutch regiment to stay. It remained there until March 1713.{{Ref label|Jackson3|17|a}}

==British rule==

===Treaty of Utrecht===
[[File:Allegory of the Peace of 1714.jpg|right|thumb|Allegory of the Peace of 1714]]
* '''1713''' 11 April – The territory was subsequently ceded to the Crown of [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]] in perpetuity by Spain under [[:s:Peace and Friendship Treaty of Utrecht between Spain and Great Britain#ARTICLE X|article X]] of the [[Treaty of Utrecht (1713)|Treaties of Utrecht]]. Despite some military attempts by the Spanish to retake it in the 18th century, most notably in the Great Siege of 1779–1783, the Rock has remained under British control ever since.
:In that treaty, Spain ceded Great Britain "''the full and entire propriety of the town and castle of Gibraltar, together with the port, fortifications, and forts thereunto belonging ... for ever, without any exception or impediment whatsoever.''"
:The Treaty stipulated that no overland trade between Gibraltar and Spain was to take place, except for emergency provisions in the case that Gibraltar is unable to be supplied by sea. Another condition of the cession was that, "''no leave shall be given under any pretence whatsoever, either to Jews or Moors, to reside or have their dwellings in the said town of Gibraltar.''" This was not respected for long, and Gibraltar has had for many years an established Jewish community, along with Muslims from North Africa.
:Finally, under the Treaty, should the British crown wish to dispose of Gibraltar, Spain should be offered the territory first.

===Until the Peninsular Wars===
[[File:Gibraltar and Bay map 1750.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Topographic map of Gibraltar and the [[Bay of Gibraltar]], circa 1750]]
Between 1713 and 1728, there were seven occasions when British ministers were prepared to bargain Gibraltar away as part of their foreign policy. However, the Parliament always frustrated such attempts, echoing public opinion in Britain.<ref>The Rock of the Gibraltarians. A History of Gibraltar, p. 115.</ref>
* '''1721''' March – Philip V of Spain requested the restitution of Gibraltar to proceed with the renewal of the trade licences of Great Britain with the Spanish possessions in America.
* '''1721''' 1 June – [[George I of Great Britain|George I]] sent a letter to Philip V promising "''to make use of the first favourable Opportunity to regulate this Article (the Demand touching the Restitution of Gibraltar), with the Consent of my Parliament''".<ref>{{cite web |year=2003 |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=37765 |title=Letter from George I to the King of Spain On the restitution of Gibraltar (1/6/1721) |publisher=British History Online |access-date=16 December 2005}}</ref> However, the British Parliament never endorsed such promise.
* '''1727''' February–June – [[Siege of Gibraltar (1727)|The second siege by Spain]] attempting to recapture Gibraltar ('''Thirteenth Siege of Gibraltar'''). Depending on the sources, Spanish troops were described to be ranging from 12,000 and 25,000. British defenders were 1,500 at the beginning of the siege, increasing up to about 5,000. After a five-month siege, with several unsuccessful and costly attempts, Spanish troops gave up and retired.
* '''1729''' – At the end of the [[Anglo-Spanish War (1727)|Anglo-Spanish War of 1727–1729]], the [[Treaty of Seville]] confirmed all previous treaties (including the Treaty of Utrecht), allowing Great Britain to keep [[Menorca]] and Gibraltar.
* '''1730''' – A Belgian Engineer, the [[Jorge Próspero de Verboom|Marquis of Verboom]], Chief Engineer of the Spanish Royal Engineer Corps, who had taken part in the 1727 siege, arrived in San Roque commissioned by the Spanish government to design a line of fortifications across the isthmus. Fort San Felipe and Fort Santa Barbara were built. The fortifications, known to the British as the Spanish Lines, and to Spain as ''La Línea de Contravalación'' were the origin of the modern-day town of [[La Línea de la Concepción]].
* '''1749–1754''' – Lieutenant General [[Humphrey Bland]] is the Governor of Gibraltar. He compiles the twelve "Articles" or regulations that ruled the administration of Gibraltar for over sixty years. The first article established that only Protestants may own property. In 1754, the population settled at around 6,000 people, with the garrison and their dependents constituting about three-quarters of it. The civilian population was made up of mainly Genoese and Jewish people.<ref>The Rock of the Gibraltarians. A History of Gibraltar, p. 142-143.</ref>
* '''1776''' 23 February – One of the heaviest storms ever recorded in Gibraltar. The lower part of the town was flooded. The linewall was breached along 100 meters.
* '''1779''' June – In the midst of the [[American Revolutionary War]], Spain declared war against Great Britain (as France had done the year before).

[[File:The Siege and Relief of Gibraltar (2).jpg|thumb|''[[The Defeat of the Floating Batteries at Gibraltar, September 1782|The Defeat of the Floating Batteries at Gibraltar]]'', 13 September 1782. By [[John Singleton Copley]] (1738–1815)]]
* '''1779''' July – Start of the '''[[Great Siege of Gibraltar]]''' (fourteenth and most recent military siege). This was an action by French and Spanish forces to gain control of Gibraltar from the established British Garrison. The garrison, led by [[George Augustus Eliott, 1st Baron Heathfield|George Augustus Eliott]], who later became 1st Baron Heathfield of Gibraltar, survived all attacks and a blockade of supplies.
* '''1782''' 13 September – Start of an assault involving 100,000 men, 48 ships and 450 cannon. The British garrison survived.
* '''1782''' – Work on the [[Great Siege Tunnels]] started. The tunnels became a great and complex system of underground fortifications which nowadays criss-crosses the inside of the Rock. Once the Siege was over, the fortifications were rebuilt and, in the following century, the walls were lined with [[Portland limestone]]. Such stone gave the walls their present white appearance. The successful resistance in the Great Siege is attributed to several factors: the improvement in fortifications by Colonel (later General Sir) [[William Green (general)|William Green]] in 1769; the British naval supremacy, which translated into support of the Navy; the competent command by General [[George Augustus Eliott, 1st Baron Heathfield|George Augustus Elliot]]; and an appropriately sized garrison.<ref>''Gibraltar: British or Spanish?'', pg. 8.</ref> As in the early years of the British period, during the Siege, the British Government considered exchanging Gibraltar for some Spanish possession. However, by the end of the Siege ''"the fortress and its heroic response to the siege was now acquiring a sort of cult status amongst the population in Britain and no exchange however attractive, was likely to be acceptable"''.<ref>''Gibraltar'', pg. 99. Quoted in ''Gibraltar: British or Spanish?'', pg. 8.</ref>
* '''1783''' February – By now, the siege was over, and George Augustus Eliott was awarded the [[Knight of the Bath]], and was made 1st Baron Heathfield of Gibraltar. The [[Treaty of Paris (1783)|Treaties of Versailles]] which ceded [[Menorca]] and Florida to Spain, reaffirmed previous treaties in the rest of the issues, thus not affecting Gibraltar.
* '''1800''' – Malta is taken over by Great Britain. The possession of Malta (confirmed by the [[Treaty of Paris (1814)|Treaty of Paris]]) in 1814 increased the attractiveness of Gibraltar, since controlling both Gibraltar and Malta meant the effective mastery of the Mediterranean Sea by the Royal Navy.<ref>''Gibraltar'', pg. 105. Quoted in ''Gibraltar: British or Spanish?'', pg. 8.</ref>
* '''1802''' – Several mutinies among some regiments garrisoned in Gibraltar.
* '''1802''' – The first merchant token to bear the name Gibraltar (albeit spelt Gibralter) was issued by Robert Keeling in order to alleviate a shortage of copper.
* '''1803''' June – [[Horatio Nelson|Admiral Nelson]] arrived in Gibraltar as Commander-in-Chief Mediterranean.
* '''1804''' – Great epidemic of "Malignant Fever" broke out. Although traditionally labelled as "Yellow Fever", now it is thought to have been [[typhus]]. Nearly 5,000 people died.<ref>''The Rock of the Gibraltarians. A History of Gibraltar'', p. 196.</ref>
* '''1805''' January – The great epidemic ended. Over a third of the civilian population (5,946 people) died.
* '''1805''' 21 October – [[Battle of Trafalgar]].
* '''1805''' 28 October – {{HMS|Victory}} was towed into Gibraltar, bringing Nelson's body aboard. The [[Trafalgar Cemetery]] still exists today in Gibraltar.
* '''1806''' – Gibraltar was made a Catholic [[Apostolic Vicariate]] (until then Gibraltar belonged to the [[Episcopal see|See]] of [[Cadiz]]). Since 1840, the vicar has always been the [[Roman Catholic Bishop of Gibraltar|Bishop of Gibraltar]].<ref>{{cite web |author=Catholic Encyclopedia |year=1913 |url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06550a.htm |title=Vicariate Apostolic of Gibraltar |publisher=New Advent |access-date=2 January 2006}}</ref>
* '''1810''' – Britain and Spain became allies against Napoleon.
* '''1810''' February – The Governor of Gibraltar removed the Spanish forts of San Felipe and Santa Barbara, located on the northern boundary of the neutral ground. Fearing that the forts might fall into French hands, [[Colin Campbell (Gibraltar Governor)|Lieutenant General Sir Colin Campbell]] instructed Royal Engineers to blow the forts up. Such a task was carried out on 14 February, together with the demolition of the rest of the fortifications of the Spanish Lines.
:(According to George Hills,<ref>''Rock of Contention. A History of Gibraltar'', p. 368.</ref> there are no primary sources that could explain whether such a demolition was requested or authorized by any Spanish or British authority. According to him, over time, three different theories have emerged: (a) Campbell ordered the demolition on his own authority (b) under instructions from the British Government (c) upon the request of Spanish [[Francisco Javier Castaños, 1st Duke of Bailén|General Castaños]], who was at the time in Cádiz. Spanish authors from 1840 have usually favoured theory (b), while British ones have supported (c). As long as there is no contemporary source or dispatch on the topic, Hills does not personally discard (a), considering it the most likely possibility).
* During the [[Peninsular War]], contingents from the Gibraltar Garrison were sent to aid Spanish resistance to the French at Cádiz and [[Tarifa]]. As William Jackson describes, ''"Gradually Gibraltar changed from being the objective of the San Roque garrison into the supply base and refuge in time of trouble for the Spanish forces operating in Southern Andalusia''".<ref>''The Rock of the Gibraltarians. A History of Gibraltar'', p. 209.</ref>

===Until the Second World War===
[[File:Tipos de Gibraltar.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Characters of Gibraltar (R.P. Napper, 1863; private collection)]]
* '''1814''' – Outbreak of malignant fever.
* '''1815''' – The civilian population of Gibraltar was about 10,000 people (two and a half times the size of the garrison). The Genoese constituted about one-third of the civilian population (a large number of immigrants had arrived from Genoa at the beginning of the century). The rest were mainly Spaniards and Portuguese people who fled from the war, and Jewish people from Morocco.<ref>''Gibraltar: British or Spanish?'', p. 9</ref>
* '''1817''' – The first civil judge was established.
* '''1830''' – The British government changes the status of Gibraltar from ''"The town and garrison of Gibraltar''" to the "''[[Crown Colony]] of Gibraltar"''. Thus, the responsibility for its administration is transferred from the War Office to the new Colonial Office.<ref>''The Rock of the Gibraltarians. A History of Gibraltar'', p.229:{{blockquote|The many strands of desiderable reform were brought together when, in 1830, responsibility for Gibraltar's affairs was transferred from the War Office to the new Colonial Office, and the status of the Rock was changed from 'The town and garrison of Gibraltar in the Kingdom of Spain' to the 'Crown Colony of Gibraltar'.}}</ref>
:Legal institutions and the [[Royal Gibraltar Police|Gibraltar Police Force]] were established.
* '''1832''' – The [[Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, Gibraltar|Church of the Holy Trinity]], built for the needs of [[Anglican]] worshipers among Gibraltar's civil population, is completed. (Ten years later, it became the [[Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, Gibraltar|Cathedral of the Holy Trinity]]).
* '''1842''' 21 August – The [[Church of England]] [[Diocese of Gibraltar in Europe|Diocese of Gibraltar]] was founded by [[Letters Patent]], taking over the pastoral care of the chaplaincies and congregations from Portugal to the Caspian Sea. [[George Tomlinson (bishop)|George Tomlinson]] is enthroned as the first [[Bishop in Europe|Bishop of Gibraltar]]. The [[Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, Gibraltar|Church of the Holy Trinity, Gibraltar]] becomes the Cathedral for the Diocese.<ref>[http://www.gibconnect.com/~holytrinity/lower.php?filename=history.php Official History of the Diocese of Europe] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070629024619/http://www.gibconnect.com/~holytrinity/lower.php?filename=history.php |date=29 June 2007 }}</ref>
* '''1842''' – Official Coins of the Realm were issued for Gibraltar by the [[Royal Mint]]. Coins were issued in ½, 1 and 2 Quart denominations. [[File:Gibraltar, Half Quart, 1842.jpg|left|thumb|320px|1842 Half Quart coin issue by the [[Royal Mint]]]]
* '''1869''' – The [[Suez Canal]] was opened. It heavily increased the strategic value of the Rock in the route from the United Kingdom to India. The Gibraltarian economy, mainly based on commercial shipping and import-export trade, took on a new income source with the opening of a coaling station for the new steam ships.<ref>''The Rock of the Gibraltarians. A History of Gibraltar'', p.252.</ref>
* '''1891''' 17 March – America-bound steamer ''Utopia'' slammed into the iron-plated British battleship [[HMS Anson (1886)|HMS ''Anson'']] (due to heavy weather) and sank in the [[Bay of Gibraltar]]; 576 people died.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.emergency-management.net/ship_acc.htm |title=List of Ship Accidents |access-date=15 June 2007 |archive-date=7 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100307231306/http://www.emergency-management.net/ship_acc.htm |url-status=usurped }}</ref>
* '''1894''' – The construction of the dockyards started.
* '''1908''' 5 August – The British Ambassador in Madrid informed the Spanish Minister of State, 'as an act of courtesy', of the British Government's intention to build a fence along the line of British sentries on the isthmus ''to prevent smuggling and reduce sentry duty''. According to the British government, the fence was erected 1 metre inside British territory. Spain currently does not recognize the fence as the valid border, since it claims the fence was built on Spanish soil. Even though [[Spain]], the United Kingdom, and Gibraltar are all part of the [[European Union]], the border fence is still relevant today since Gibraltar is outside the [[customs union]]. The border crossing is open 24 hours a day as required by EU law.
* '''1921''' – Gibraltar was granted a [[City Council of Gibraltar|City Council]] status in recognition for its contribution to the British war efforts in World War I. The council had a small minority of elected persons. First elections held in Gibraltar.
* '''1936'''–'''1939''' – After the United Kingdom recognized the [[Francisco Franco|Franco]]'s [[Spanish State|regime]] in 1938, [[Gibraltar]] had two Spanish Consulates, a [[Second Spanish Republic|Republican]] one, and a Nationalistic one. Several incidents took place during the [[Spanish Civil War]] which affected Gibraltar. In May 1937, [[HMS Arethusa (26)|HMS ''Arethusa'']] had to tow [[HMS Hunter (H35)|HMS ''Hunter'']] into port after ''Hunter'' hit a mine off [[Almeria]] that killed and wounded several [[Royal Navy|British sailors]]. In June 1937, the German pocket battleship [[German pocket battleship Deutschland|''Deutschland'']] arrived in Gibraltar with many dead and wounded, after Republican planes bombed it in [[Ibiza]], in retaliation for the [[Condor Legion]]'s bombing of [[Guernica]]. In August 1938, the Republican destroyer ''[[Spanish destroyer José Luis Díez|Jose Luis Diez]]'' took refuge in Gibraltar after taking casualties from the guns of the National cruiser ''Canarias''. The one incident that resulted in the death of [[Gibraltarian people|Gibraltarians]] occurred on 31 January 1938, when the insurgent submarine ''[[Archimede class submarine|General Sanjurjo]]'' sank the SS ''Endymion'', a small Gibraltar-registered freighter taking a cargo of coal to [[Cartagena, Spain|Cartagena]], which was chartered by the Republican government. Eleven members of her crew were killed.<ref>{{cite book | author=Paco Galliano | year=2003 | title=History of Galliano's Bank (1855–1987): The Smallest Bank in the World | location=Gibraltar | publisher=Gibraltar Books | pages=57–9}}</ref><ref>Heaton, Paul Michael (1985) ''Welsh Blockade Runners in the Spanish Civil War.'' Starling  Press, p. 74. {{ISBN|0-9507714-5-7}}</ref><ref>[[Peter Gretton (Royal Navy officer)|Gretton, Peter]] (1984). ''El Factor Olvidado: La Marina Británica y la Guerra Civil Española''. Editorial San Martín, p. 412. {{ISBN|84-7140-224-6}}. {{in lang|es}}</ref>

===Second World War and after===
{{Gibraltar in WWII}}
[[File:Gibraltar border 1977.jpg|right|thumb|The closed Spanish gate at the border between Gibraltar and Spain, 1977]]
{{See also|Military history of Gibraltar during World War II}}
During World War II, the Rock was again turned into a fortress, and the civilian residents of Gibraltar were evacuated. Initially, in May 1940, 16,700 people went to [[French Morocco]]. However, after the [[Second Armistice at Compiègne|French-German Armistice]] and the subsequent [[Destruction of the French Fleet at Mers-el-Kebir|attack on Mers-el-Kébir, Algeria]], by the British Navy in July 1940, the French-Moroccan authorities asked all Gibraltarian evacuees to be removed. 12,000 went to Britain, while about 3,000 went to [[Madeira]] or [[Jamaica]], with the rest moving to Spain or [[Tanger|Tangier]]. Control of Gibraltar gave the [[Allies of World War II|Allied Powers]] control of the entry to the [[Mediterranean Sea]] (the other side of the Strait being Spanish territory, and thus [[non-belligerent]]). The Rock was a key part of the Allied supply lines to [[Malta]] and North Africa, and the base of the British Navy [[Force H]]. Prior to the war, the [[racecourse]] on the isthmus was converted into an [[airbase]], and a concrete runway was constructed (1938). The repatriation of the civilians started in 1944 and proceeded until 1951, causing considerable suffering and frustration. However, most of the population had returned by 1946.
* '''1940''' 4 July – French bombers, based in French Morocco, carried out a retaliatory air raid over Gibraltar as a reprisal for the destruction of the French fleet at Mers-el-Kebir, Algeria, by the Force H (about 1,300 French sailors were killed and about 350 were wounded in the action against the French fleet).
* '''1941''' – Germany planned to occupy Gibraltar (and presumably hand it over to Spain{{Citation needed|date=December 2009}}) in "Operation Felix", which was due to start on 10 January 1941.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.adolfhitler.ws/lib/proc/direct18.html |title=Operation Felix. Directive No.18 |work=Adolf Hitler Historical Record |publisher=adolfhitler.ws |access-date=16 December 2005 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070715182334/http://www.adolfhitler.ws/lib/proc/direct18.html |archive-date=15 July 2007  }}</ref> It was cancelled because the Spanish government were reluctant to let the [[Wehrmacht]] enter Spain and then attack against the Rock, its civilians, or the British Army, from Spanish soil, because [[Francisco Franco|Franco]] feared that it may have been impossible to remove the Wehrmacht afterwards. In any case, [[Hitler]] was too busy elsewhere in Europe to give this much priority.
* '''1940–1943''' – The Gibraltarian harbour was attacked many times by [[Decima Flottiglia MAS|Italian commando frogmen]] operating from [[Algeciras]]. Underwater warfare and countermeasures were developed by [[Lionel Crabb]].
* '''1942''' September – A small group of Gibraltarians, who remained in the town serving in the British Army, joined a mechanic official, [[Albert Risso]], to create 'The Gibraltarians Association', the starting point of what became the [[Association for the Advancement of Civil Rights]] (officially established in December that year), the first political party in Gibraltar. [[Joshua Hassan]] (a young lawyer then, and later Sir and Chief Minister) was among the leading members of the association. The AACR was the dominant party in Gibraltar politics for the last third of the 20th century.
* '''1942''' 8 November – [[Operation Torch]] launched with support from Gibraltar.
* '''1944''' April – The situation in Gibraltar is considered safe and the first of the evacuees return to Gibraltar.
* '''1946''' – The United Kingdom inscribed Gibraltar in the list of [[non-self-governing territories]] kept by the UN Special Committee on Decolonization.
* '''1950''' – Gibraltar's first Legislative Council was opened.
* '''1951''' – The return process of the evacuees finishes. It was delayed due to an initial shortage of shipping and then of housing.<ref>''The Rock of the Gibraltarians. A History of Gibraltar'', p.296.</ref> The evacuation was a key element in the creation of the national conscience of Gibraltarians. The experience of evacuation ''had bonded the Gibraltarian together as a nation''.<ref>''Gibraltar'', p.160. Quoted in ''Gibraltar: British or Spanish?'', p.13.</ref>
* '''1951''' 27 April – The [[Explosion of the RFA Bedenham|RFA Bedenham explodes]] while docked in Gibraltar, killing 13, damaging many buildings in the town, and delaying the housing program essential for repatriation.
* '''1954''' – This was the 250th anniversary of its capture. [[Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom|Queen Elizabeth II]] visited Gibraltar, which angered [[Francisco Franco|General Franco]], who renewed its [[Disputed status of Gibraltar|claim]] to sovereignty, which had not been actively pursued for over 150 years. This led to the closure of the Spanish consulate, and to the imposition of restrictions on freedom of movement between Gibraltar and Spain. By the 1960s, motor vehicles were being restricted or banned from crossing the border, with only Spanish nationals employed on the Rock being allowed to enter Gibraltar.
* '''1955''' – At the United Nations, Spain, which had just been admitted to membership, initiated a claim to the territory, arguing that the principle of [[territorial integrity]], not [[self-determination]], applied in the case of the decolonization of Gibraltar, and that the United Kingdom should cede sovereignty of the Rock to Spain. Madrid gained diplomatic support from countries in Latin America, with the [[UN General Assembly]] passing resolutions ([[:s:UN General Assembly Resolution 2231|2231 (XXI)]], "Question of Gibraltar"<ref>{{cite web |author=UN General Assembly |year=1966 |url=https://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/21/ares21.htm |title=Resolution 2231(XXI). Question of Gibraltar |format=PDF |work=Resolutions adopted by the General Assembly during its Twenty-First Session |publisher=United Nations |access-date=16 December 2005}}</ref> and [[:s:UN General Assembly Resolution 2353|2353 (XXII)]], "Question of Gibraltar"<ref>{{cite web | author = UN General Assembly | year = 1967 | url = https://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/22/ares22.htm | title = Resolution 2353(XXII). Question of Gibraltar | format = PDF | work = Resolutions adopted by the General Assembly during its Twenty-Second Session | publisher = United Nations | access-date =16 December 2005 }}</ref>).
* '''1965''' April – The British Government published a White Paper dealing with the question of Gibraltar and the Treaty of Utrecht.
* '''1966''' – In response, the Spanish Foreign Office Minister [[Fernando Castiella]], published and presented the "Spanish Red Book" (named so because of its cover; its reference is "Negociaciones sobre Gibraltar. Documentos presentados a las Cortes Españolas por el Ministro de Asuntos Exteriores", Madrid, 1967) to the Spanish Courts.
* '''1967''' – The [[1967 Gibraltar sovereignty referendum|first sovereignty referendum]]<ref>{{cite book |first=Joseph |last=Garcia |year=1994 |title=Gibraltar – The Making of a People |publisher=Medsun |location=Gibraltar}} Dr Garcia graduated with a first class honours degree in history and obtained a doctorate on the political and constitutional development of Gibraltar.</ref> was held on 10 September, in which Gibraltar's voters were asked whether they wished to either pass under Spanish sovereignty, or remain under British sovereignty, with institutions of self-government. Over 99% voted in favour of remaining British.
* '''1968''' A group of six Gibraltarian lawyers and businessmen, calling themselves the ''palomos'' or '[[doves (Gibraltar)|doves]]', advocated a political settlement with Spain<ref>{{cite web |author=Jesús Salgado (coord.) |year=1996 |url=http://www.incipe.org/gibraltar.pdf |title=Informe sobre Gibraltar (''Report on Gibraltar'') (Spanish) |publisher=INCIPE (Instituto de Cuestiones Internacionales y Política Exterior) |access-date=16 December 2005 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20060304033328/http://www.incipe.org/gibraltar.pdf |archive-date=4 March 2006  }}</ref> in a letter published in the ''Gibraltar Chronicle'', and met with Spanish Foreign Office officials (a meeting was even held with the Spanish<!--?--> Foreign Office Minister) to try to bring this about.<ref>''The Rock of the Gibraltarians. A History of Gibraltar'', p.316.</ref> This provoked widespread public hostility in Gibraltar (with attacks on their homes and properties<ref>{{cite news |author=Giles Tremlett |date=7 November 2002 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/gibraltar/story/0,11525,835097,00.html |title=Rock's voters signal rejection of Spanish deal |series=Special Report. Gibraltar |work=The Guardian  |access-date=16 December 2005 | location=London}}</ref> and civil unrest). Things quickly calmed down, although today the term retains a negative meaning in Gibraltar politics.
* '''1969''' 30 May – A new constitution for Gibraltar was introduced by the United Kingdom Parliament, under the initiative of the British Government ([[Gibraltar Constitution Order 1969]]). Under it, Gibraltar attained full internal [[self-governance|self-government]], with an elected [[Gibraltar Parliament|House of Assembly]]. The [[City Council of Gibraltar|City Council]] and the Legislative Council disappeared. The preamble to the Constitution stated that:

::''"Her Majesty's Government will never enter into arrangements under which the people of Gibraltar would pass under the sovereignty of another state against their freely and democratically expressed wishes."''
* '''1969''' 8 June – In response, Spain closed the border with Gibraltar, and severed all communication links. For about 13 years, the land border was closed from the Spanish side, to try to isolate the territory. The closure affected both sides of the border. Gibraltarians with families in Spain had to go by ferry to [[Tangier]], Morocco, and from there to the Spanish port of [[Algeciras]], while many Spanish workers (by then about 4,800; sixteen years before, about 12,500 Spanish workmen entered Gibraltar every day<ref>{{cite web |author=Tito Benady |year=2001 |url=http://www.iteg.org/documentos/spaniards_in_gibraltar.pdf |title=Spaniards in Gibraltar after the Treaty of Utrecht |publisher=Instituto Transfronterizo del Estrecho de Gibraltar – Transborder Institute of the Strait of Gibraltar |access-date=16 December 2005 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060304033327/http://www.iteg.org/documentos/spaniards_in_gibraltar.pdf |archive-date=4 March 2006  }}</ref><ref>''The Rock of the Gibraltarians. A History of Gibraltar'', p. 316.</ref>) lost their jobs in Gibraltar.
* '''1969''' – Major [[Robert Peliza|Robert (later Sir Robert) Peliza]] of the [[Integration with Britain Party]] (IWBP) was elected Chief Minister in alliance with the independent group led by [[Peter Isola]].<ref>{{cite book | first = William | last = Jackson | year = 1990 | title = The Rock of the Gibraltarians. A History of Gibraltar | publisher = Gibraltar Books | edition = 2nd | location = Grendon, Northamptonshire, UK | isbn = 0-948466-14-6 | pages = 323–324}}</ref>
* '''1971''' – The United Kingdom Government led by [[Edward Heath|Heath]] considered the possibility of exchanging sovereignty for a 999-year lease on Gibraltar, as it was felt it had ceased to be of any military or economic value. The proposals remained secret until 2002.<ref>{{cite web |title=Gibraltar faced secret handover under Heath |website=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925212045/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/spain/1390798/Gibraltar-faced-secret-handover-under-Heath.html?mobile=true |archive-date=2015-09-25 |url-status=live |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/spain/1390798/Gibraltar-faced-secret-handover-under-Heath.html?mobile=true}}</ref>
* '''1972''' – Joshua Hassan of the [[Association for the Advancement of Civil Rights]] (AACR) was returned to power. AACR rebrands as GLP/AACR (Gibraltar Labour Party / AACR) in an attempt to develop a more clearly working-class image.<ref>{{cite book | last = Archer | first = Edward | title = Gibraltar, identity and empire | publisher = Routledge | location = London New York | year = 2006 | isbn = 9780415347969 }}</ref>
* '''1972''' – Gibraltar [[TGWU]] hold a 6-day [[General Strike]], pressing the Ministry of Defence, Gibraltar's largest employer, for better pay and conditions for workers. The strike ends successfully with a £1.85 increase in basic pay rates, and is seen as a catalyst for increased working class solidarity in the pursuit of social, economic, and political change. TGWU claims a rise of overall union density within the labour market to around 55% following the strike.<ref name='Chronicle2012-08-07'>{{cite news |title=Unite to Celebrate 40th Anniversary of 1972 General Strike |date=7 August 2012 |url=http://www.chronicle.gi/headlines_details.php?id=25637 |work=The Gibraltar Chronicle |access-date=7 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150407134015/http://www.chronicle.gi/headlines_details.php?id=25637 |archive-date=7 April 2015 |url-status=dead  }}</ref>
* '''1973''' – Gibraltar joined the [[European Economic Community]] alongside the United Kingdom.
* '''1975''' – The British [[Foreign Office]] Minister [[Roy Hattersley]] ruled out integration with the UK, and stated that any constitutional change would have to involve a 'Spanish dimension'. This position was reaffirmed the following year, when the British government rejected the House of Assembly's proposals for constitutional reform ([[Hattersley Memorandum]]). The IWBP broke up and was succeeded by the Democratic Party of British Gibraltar (DPBG), led first by Maurice Xiberras, formerly of the IWBP, and subsequently by Peter Isola.
* '''1975''' – Spanish dictator General [[Francisco Franco]] died, but nothing changed in relation to Gibraltar.
* '''1980''' 10 April – The British and Spanish ministers of Foreign Affairs, [[Peter Carington, 6th Baron Carrington|Lord Carrington]] and [[Marcelino Oreja, 1st Marquis of Oreja|Marcelino Oreja]], signs the [[Lisbon Agreement, 1980|Lisbon Agreement]] regarding 'The Gibraltar Problem', stating that the communications between Gibraltar and Spain would be re-established, and restating both Governments positions. The measures agreed were not implemented.
* '''1980''' July – The Anglican Diocese of Gibraltar is amalgamated with the Jurisdiction of North and Central Europe to become the [[Diocese of Gibraltar in Europe]]. The [[Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, Gibraltar]] remains the Anglican Cathedral for the Diocese.
* '''1981''' – The [[British Nationality Act 1981]] effectively made Gibraltar a ''Dependent Territory'' and removed the right of entry into the UK of British Dependent Territory Citizens. After a short campaign, Gibraltarians were offered full British citizenship ([[History of nationality in Gibraltar]]). The act was ratified in 1983.
[[File:Gibraltar gate opened.jpg|250px|thumb|Gibraltarians entering Spain after the land border between Spain and Gibraltar was opened on 15 December 1982.]]
* '''1982''' 15 December – The re-opening of the border was initially delayed due to the war between the United Kingdom and [[Argentina]] over the [[Falkland Islands]]. Upon the change in the Spanish government, with the Socialist Party in power, the border was partially re-opened (only pedestrians, residents of Gibraltar or Spanish nationals were allowed to cross the border by Spain; only one crossing each way per day was allowed). Restrictions on the land border continued until 2006,<ref>[http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/travel-advice-by-country/country-profile/europe/gibraltar/?profile=history&pg=3] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110524131644/http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/travel-advice-by-country/country-profile/europe/gibraltar/?profile=history&pg=3|date=24 May 2011}} Country Profile: Gibraltar (British Overseas Territory) "On 18 September 2006, the first Trilateral Ministerial meeting was held at the Palacio de Viana in Cordoba. Mr Geoff Hoon, Minister for Europe, represented the UK, while Foreign Minister Moratinos and Chief Minister Peter Caruana represented Spain and Gibraltar respectively. At the meeting, a landmark agreement was reached on a range of issues. These included: telecommunications; the expanded use of Gibraltar Airport; the improvement of pedestrian and traffic flows at the border crossing between Gibraltar and Spain; and a settlement on pensions that would provide a fair deal for those Spanish citizens who lost their livelihoods when the border between Spain and Gibraltar closed in 1969."</ref><ref>[http://www.gibnet.com/texts/trip_1.htm] Communique of the ministerial meeting of the forum of dialogue on Gibraltar 18 09 2006 "More fluid movement of people, vehicles and goods between Gibraltar and the surrounding area will improve the day to day lives of people in Gibraltar and the Campo de Gibraltar. The Spanish Government, through the Agencia Estatal de Administración Tributaria, is already investing close to one and a half million euros in substantial improvement works to its facilities and those of the Guardia Civil. The works will be completed this year, at which time the access will operate on a two lane basis in both directions and the red/green channels system, for both people and for vehicles, will be introduced. The Gibraltar Government has also invested substantial sums of money on the enhancement of its facilities. "</ref> although there are still occasionally issues related to the crossing.<ref>[http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g187510-s602/Gibraltar:Crossing.The.Border.html] Gibraltar: Crossing the Border</ref><ref>[http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Europe/Gibraltar/Transportation-Gibraltar-Border_Crossings-BR-1.html] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081020015122/http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Europe/Gibraltar/Transportation-Gibraltar-Border_Crossings-BR-1.html|date=20 October 2008}} Border Crossings, Gibraltar</ref><ref>[http://www.euroweeklynews.com/2009082162591/news/costa-del-sol/traffic-mayhem-at-la-linea-gibraltar-border-crossing.html] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090825140045/http://www.euroweeklynews.com/2009082162591/news/costa-del-sol/traffic-mayhem-at-la-linea-gibraltar-border-crossing.html|date=25 August 2009}} Traffic mayhem at La Linea-Gibraltar border crossing</ref>
* '''1984''' – Spain applied to join the [[European Community]], succeeding in 1986. Under the [[:s:Brussels Agreement|Brussels Agreement]]<ref>{{cite web |author=Governments of the United Kingdom and Spain |date=27 November 1984 |url=http://www.gibraltarnewsonline.com/reference_documents/brussels_agreement.html |title=The Brussels Agreement |access-date=16 December 2005 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927195308/http://www.gibraltarnewsonline.com/reference_documents/brussels_agreement.html |archive-date=27 September 2007  }}</ref> (27 November 1984) signed between the governments of the United Kingdom and Spain, the former agreed to enter into discussions with Spain over Gibraltar, including, for the first time, the "issues" of sovereignty. The border was fully reopened.
* '''1987''' 2 December – A [[:s:Gibraltar Airport Agreement|proposal]] for joint control of [[Gibraltar Airport]] with Spain<ref>{{cite web |author=Governments of the United Kingdom and Spain |date=2 December 1987 |url=http://www.gibraltarnewsonline.com/reference_documents/airport_agreement.html |title=The Airport Agreement |access-date=16 December 2005 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051212103705/http://www.gibraltarnewsonline.com/reference_documents/airport_agreement.html |archive-date=12 December 2005  }}</ref> met with widespread local opposition, which was expressed in a protest march to [[The Convent (Gibraltar)|The Convent]]. Chief Minister Sir Joshua Hassan resigned at the end of the year and was succeeded by [[Adolfo Canepa]].
* '''1988''' – [[Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party]] (GSLP) leader [[Joe Bossano]] was elected as Chief Minister, and firmly ruled out any discussions with Spain over sovereignty and shared use of the airport.
* '''1988''' 7 March – The [[Special Air Service]] of the [[British Army]] shot dead three unarmed members of the [[Provisional Irish Republican Army|Provisional IRA]] walking towards the frontier, claiming they were making "suspicious movements" ([[Operation Flavius]]). A subsequent search led to the discovery of a car containing a large amount of [[Semtex]] explosive in Spain, which they had planned to use to bomb the [[Guard Mounting|Changing of the Guard]] ceremony a few days later .
* '''1991''' – The [[British Army]] effectively withdrew from Gibraltar, leaving only the locally recruited [[Royal Gibraltar Regiment]], although the [[Royal Air Force]] and [[Royal Navy]] remain. Spain made various proposals involving the sovereignty of Gibraltar, which were rejected by all parties in the Gibraltar House of Assembly.
* '''1991''' – The Spanish [[Spanish Socialist Workers' Party]] (PSOE) government of [[Felipe González]] proposed joint sovereignty over Gibraltar with the United Kingdom. A similar proposal was advocated by [[Peter Cumming]], formerly of the [[Gibraltar Social-Democrats]] (GSD), in which the Rock would become a self-governing [[condominium (international law)|condominium]] (or "Royal City"), with the British and Spanish monarchs as joint heads of state.
* '''1995''' – GSLP government lost popular support as a result of tobacco smuggling activity.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getAllAnswers.do?reference=E-1995-2320&language=LV|title=Answer to a written question - Illegal activities in Gibraltar - E-2320/1995|website=www.europarl.europa.eu|access-date=2020-02-28}}</ref> To prevent this activity, the fast launches were made illegal and confiscated. This resulted in a riot in July 1995.
* '''1996''' – In a general election, [[Joe Bossano]] was replaced by [[Peter Caruana]] of the GSD, who, while favouring dialogue with Spain, also ruled out any deals on sovereignty.
* '''1997''' – The [[People's Party (Spain)|Partido Popular]] Spanish Foreign Minister, [[Abel Matutes]] made proposals under which Gibraltar would be under joint sovereignty for fifty years, before being fully incorporated into Spain, as an [[Autonomous communities of Spain|autonomous region]], similar to [[Catalonia]] or the [[Basque Country (autonomous community)|Basque Country]], but these were rejected by the British Government.
* '''2000''' – An agreement was reached between the UK and Spain over recognition of 'competent authorities' in Gibraltar. Spain had a policy of non-recognition of the [[Government of Gibraltar]] as a 'competent authority', therefore refusing to recognise [[Court system of Gibraltar|Gibraltar's courts]], [[Royal Gibraltar Police|police]] and government departments, [[driving licence]]s, and [[identity card]]s. Under the agreement, the [[Foreign and Commonwealth Office]] in London would act as a 'post box', through which Gibraltar's police and other government departments could communicate with their counterparts in Spain. In addition, identity documents issued by the Government of Gibraltar now featured the words 'United Kingdom'.
* '''2000''' May – 2001 May – Following an incident at sea, the nuclear submarine [[HMS Tireless (S88)|HMS ''Tireless'' (S88)]] was [[Disputed status of Gibraltar#Recent disputes|repaired in Gibraltar]], causing diplomatic tension with Spain.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1317133.stm|title=Press Release: "Nuclear sub leaves Gibraltar" |work=BBC News | date=7 May 2001}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.environmental-agency.gi/PDF%20Files/Radiation%20Emergency%20Response%20Plan.pdf |title=Gibpubsafe document included in Appendix 6 |access-date=1 September 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721031012/http://www.environmental-agency.gi/PDF%20Files/Radiation%20Emergency%20Response%20Plan.pdf |archive-date=21 July 2011 |url-status=dead  }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/04/1497&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en|title=UK faces legal action for failure to implement Euratom health and safety provisions against ionising radiation}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.esg-gib.net/safety-plan/|title=Environmental Safety Group Site}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=http://archives.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/UK/01/25/britain.spain.submarine.reut/index.html | work=CNN | title=EU urged to probe U.K. nuclear sub | date=25 January 2001 | access-date=4 May 2010 | archive-date=4 June 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604061009/http://archives.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/UK/01/25/britain.spain.submarine.reut/index.html | url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:62002J0218:EN:NOT|title=Judgment of the Court (Fourth Chamber) of 29 January 2004. Commission of the European Communities v United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:62004J0065:EN:NOT|title=Judgment of the Court (First Chamber) of 9 March 2006. Commission of the European Communities v United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland}}</ref> Before consenting to the repair, the Government of Gibraltar insisted on a full safety assessment.<ref name ="gibgov">''"The Government of Gibraltar considers the repair of HMS ''Tireless'' in Gibraltar to be an isolated and exceptional case that creates no precedent. The Gibraltar Government is strenuously opposed to the establishment of Gibraltar as a nuclear vessel repair facility."'' {{cite web|url=http://www.gibraltar.gov.gi/latest_news/press_releases/2000/106-2000.htm|title=Press Release: Statement by the Government of Gibraltar relating to the Ministry of Defence's proposal to carry out repairs to HMS Tireless in Gibraltar|access-date=26 November 2009|archive-date=20 April 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120420063931/http://www.gibraltar.gov.gi/latest_news/press_releases/2000/106-2000.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/spain/1318193/Gibraltar-threat-to-repair-of-Tireless.html Gibraltar threat to repair of Tireless. Telegraph.co.uk. By Isambard Wilkinson in Madrid. 16 Jan 2001.]</ref>

===Twenty-first century===
* '''2001''' – The UK Government announced plans to reach a final agreement with Spain over the future of Gibraltar, which would involve shared sovereignty; however agreement was not reached due to the opposition of the Gibraltarians.
* '''2002''' – On 12 July, the [[Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs|Foreign Secretary]], [[Jack Straw]], in a formal statement in the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]], said that after twelve months of negotiation, the British Government and Spain are in broad agreement on many of the principles that should underpin a lasting settlement of Spain's sovereignty claim, which included the principle that Britain and Spain should share sovereignty over Gibraltar. Political commentators saw this as an attempt by Britain to get Spain to help counterbalance France and Germany's domination of the [[European Union]]. Straw visited Gibraltar to explain his ideas and was left in no doubt they had no support.
* '''2002''' – In November, the Government of Gibraltar called [[2002 Gibraltar sovereignty referendum|Gibraltar's second sovereignty referendum]] on the proposal, it achieved a turnout of 88% of which 98.97% of the electorate did not support the position taken by Mr Straw.

:The actual voting was as follows: 18,176 voted representing 87.9% of the electorate. There were 89 papers spoilt, of which 72 were blank. 18,087 papers remained, with 187 voting YES, and 17,900 voting NO. The Referendum was supervised by a team of international observers headed by the Labour MP [[Gerald Kaufman]], who certified that it had been held fairly, freely, and democratically.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gibnet.com/texts/ref02or.pdf |title=Gibraltar Referendum Observers Report |date=December 2002 |access-date=20 January 2006 |author=Committee of Observers |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060304033325/http://www.gibnet.com/texts/ref02or.pdf |archive-date = 4 March 2006}}</ref>
* '''2002''' – The [[British Overseas Territories Act 2002]] made provision for the renaming of British Dependent Territories as [[British Overseas Territories]], which changed the status of Gibraltar to an Overseas Territory. This act granted full British citizenship to British Overseas Territories, which was already available to Gibraltarians since 1983.

[[File:Gibraltar Tercentenary flag display.jpg|thumb|200px|Tercentenary celebrations in Gibraltar, flags fly everywhere.]]
* '''2004''' August – Gibraltar celebrated 300 years of British rule. Spanish officials labelled this as the celebration of 300 years of British occupation.<ref>{{cite web |author=Peter Almond |date=14 August 2004 |url=http://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20040804-102838-7490r.htm |title=UK ignores Spain on Gibraltar tercentenary |work=The Washington Times |access-date=16 December 2005}}</ref>

:Despite this, Gibraltar celebrated its tercentenary, with a number of events on 4 August, including the population encircling the Rock holding hands, and granting the [[Freedom of the City]] to the [[Royal Navy]].
* '''2004''' 18 November – A joint commission (''[[Comisión mixta de Cooperación y Colaboración]]'') was established between the ''[[Mancomunidad de Municipios de la Comarca del Campo de Gibraltar]]'' (the Council Association of the Campo de Gibraltar, the historic Spanish county that surrounds Gibraltar) and the Government of Gibraltar.
* '''2004''' 28 October – The governments of the United Kingdom and Spain agreed to allow the Government of Gibraltar equal representation in a new open agenda discussion forum (so-called Tripartite Talks).<ref>{{cite web |author=Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean |year=2004 |url=http://www.gibraltarnewsonline.com/reference_documents/new_dialogue_forum_statement_October_2004.html |title=Joint Statement Announcing new Dialogue Forum – 'Tripartite Talks' for Gibraltar |access-date=16 December 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060617183846/http://www.gibraltarnewsonline.com/reference_documents/new_dialogue_forum_statement_October_2004.html |archive-date=17 June 2006 |url-status=usurped  }}</ref>
* '''2005''' July – First Tripartite Talks took place in [[Faro, Portugal]].
* '''2006''' August – The following was announced:<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.gibraltar.gov.gi/latest_news/press_releases/2006/222-2006.pdf |title=Joint Communique of the Tripartite Forum of Dialogue on Gibraltar |access-date=17 October 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081029115755/http://www.gibraltar.gov.gi/latest_news/press_releases/2006/222-2006.pdf |archive-date=29 October 2008 |url-status=dead  }}</ref>
{{blockquote|The three participants confirm that the necessary preparatory work related to agreements on the [[Gibraltar Airport|airport]], pensions, [[Telephone numbers in Gibraltar|telephones]] and fence/border issues, carried out during the last 18 months, has been agreed. Accordingly, they have decided to convene in Spain the first Ministerial meeting of the Tripartite Forum of Dialogue on Gibraltar on 18 September 2006.}}
* '''2006''' 18 September - [[Cordoba Agreement, 2006|Córdoba agreement]]: The British and Spanish foreign ministers and the [[Chief Minister of Gibraltar]] met at the [[Palacio de Viana]], [[Córdoba, Spain|Córdoba]] and announced the following:<ref>[http://www.gibnet.com/texts/trip_1.htm Tripartite Agreement announced 18 September 2006]</ref>

:1. Spain agrees to recognize Gibraltar's [[international dialing code|international dialling code]] (350) and allow mobile roaming.
:2. Spanish restrictions on civil flights at the airport will be removed. A new terminal building will also be constructed, allowing a direct passage to/from the north side of the fence/frontier (in order to overcome problems of terminology relating to references to the words "frontier" or "fence", the phrase "fence/frontier" is used in the documents).
:3. There will be normality of traffic flow at the fence/frontier.
:4. Britain agrees to pay uprated pensions to those Spanish citizens who lost their livelihoods when the border was unilaterally closed by [[Francisco Franco]] in 1969.
:5. A branch of the [[Instituto Cervantes]] will be opened in Gibraltar.

:This agreement is seen as a major milestone in Gibraltar's history.
* '''2006''' November – The [[Gibraltar Constitution Order 2006|new constitution]] was drafted and later approved by the people of Gibraltar in a [[referendum]]. It was described as non-colonial in nature by Britain and Gibraltar.<ref>In the [http://unbisnet.un.org:8080/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=1220XD7620831.318276&profile=bib&uri=full%3D3100001~!859933~!0&booklistformat= Gibraltar : working paper / prepared by the Secretariat. United Nations, 20 Mar 2008] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110622112109/http://unbisnet.un.org:8080/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=1220XD7620831.318276&profile=bib&uri=full=3100001~!859933~!0&booklistformat= |date=22 June 2011 }} the Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom at the United Nations stated that {{blockquote|...relationships between the United Kingdom and Gibraltar [...] had been modernized in a manner acceptable to both sides. Gibraltar was now politically mature, and its relationship with the United Kingdom was non-colonial in nature.}}</ref> However, UK Europe Minister [[Jim Murphy]], told the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Commons that the new Constitution is a "modernization", but stated that "[I have] never described it as an end to the colonial relationship."<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.gibraltar.gov.gi/latest_news/press_releases/2008/88-2008.pdf |title=Government of Gibraltar – Gibraltar relationship with UK no longer colonial |access-date=17 September 2008 |archive-date=29 October 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081029115758/http://www.gibraltar.gov.gi/latest_news/press_releases/2008/88-2008.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* '''2006''' 16 December – The first passenger carrying [[Iberia Airlines|Iberia]] aircraft landed in Gibraltar flying directly from Madrid, and a daily scheduled service started. The service was later reduced in frequency and terminated in September 2008.
* '''2007''' 10 February – [[Gibraltar telecom dispute|Spain lifted restrictions]] on Gibraltar's ability to expand and modernize its telecommunications infrastructure. These included a refusal to recognize International Direct Dialling (IDD) code, which restricted the expansion of Gibraltar's telephone numbering plan, and the prevention of roaming arrangements for Gibraltar's GSM mobile phones in Spain.
* '''2007''' 1 May - GB Airways began scheduled flights between Madrid and Gibraltar, which were later withdrawn in September.
* '''2007''' 29 June – With a unanimous vote in the [[Gibraltar Parliament]], local MPs approved new legislation that removes the phrases 'the Colony' and 'UK possession' from Gibraltar's laws.<ref>[http://www.chronicle.gi/readarticle.php?id=000011616&title=The%20Gibraltar%20Chronicle The Gibraltar Chronicle 30/06/07] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928050947/http://www.chronicle.gi/readarticle.php?id=000011616&title=The%20Gibraltar%20Chronicle |date=28 September 2007 }}</ref>
* '''2007''' 11 October - The [[Gibraltar Social Democrats]] were returned to Government for a fourth term after a [[2007 Gibraltar general election|General Election]].
* '''2008''' 18 June – In the annual UN Special Committee on Decolonization meeting on the Gibraltar question, [[Peter Caruana]], Chief Minister of Gibraltar stated that he would not attend future meetings, as the Gibraltar Government is of the opinion that "there is no longer any need for us to look to the Committee to help us bring about our decolonization".<ref>[https://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2008/gacol3179.doc.htm Special Committee on Decolonization, 9th Meeting (18 July 2008) – As Special Committee on Decolonization considers Question of Gibraltar, Territory's Chief Minister says its decolonisation 'No longer pending']</ref> The Committee agreed that the Question of Gibraltar would be discussed again next year.<ref>[https://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2008/gacol3179.doc.htm Special Committee on Decolonization, 9th Meeting (18 July 2008) – As Special Committee on Decolonization considers Question of Gibraltar, Territory's Chief Minister says its decolonisation 'No longer pending']:{{blockquote|Agreeing with a proposal by the Chairman, the Committee then decided that, in light of related developments, it would continue its consideration of the question of Gibraltar at its next session.}}</ref>
* '''2008''' 22 September – It was announced that the remaining Iberia flights to Madrid would cease operation at the end of September 2008 due to "economic reasons", namely lack of demand.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Business/Spanish-Airline-Iberia-Suspends-flights-between-Madrid-and-Gibraltar-For-Economic-Reasons/Article/200809415104894?lpos=Business_First_Home_Article_Teaser_Region_1&lid=ARTICLE_15104894_Spanish_Airline_Iberia_Suspends_flights_between_Madrid_and_Gibraltar_For_Economic_Reasons|title=Spanish Airline Suspends Flights|access-date=22 September 2008|date=22 September 2008|publisher=[[Sky News]]}}</ref>
* '''2008''' 10 October – The bulk carrier [[MV Fedra]] ran aground on rocks at [[Europa Point]], and broke in two. The crew were safely rescued, but some of the [[fuel oil]] escaped in the very bad weather. The Captain was later arrested.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.chronicle.gi/readarticle.php?id=000014582&title=The%20Gibraltar%20Chronicle |title=Fedra Captain arrested |access-date=14 October 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081019123537/http://www.chronicle.gi/readarticle.php?id=000014582&title=The%20Gibraltar%20Chronicle |archive-date=19 October 2008 |url-status=dead  }}</ref>
* '''2009''' May - A number of Spanish incursions into British Waters around Gibraltar led to intervention by the police and a diplomatic protest by the UK.<ref>[http://www.chronicle.gi/headlines_details.php?id=16173 Britain tells Spain violation unacceptable] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090601030058/http://www.chronicle.gi/headlines_details.php?id=16173 |date=1 June 2009 }}</ref><ref>[http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/102828/Return-of-the-Armada-as-Spain-invades-Gibraltar Return of the Armada]</ref>
* '''2009''' July 21 -<ref>{{Cite news |last=Tremlett |first=Giles |date=2009-07-21 |title=Spanish minister ends 300-year snub and visits Gibraltar |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/jul/21/spanish-minister-visits-gibraltar |access-date=2025-05-15 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> Spanish Foreign Minister [[Miguel Ángel Moratinos|Miguel Angel Moratinos]] visits Gibraltar for talks with the local government and his British counterpart [[David Miliband]], this being the first visit by a Spanish minister since Britain captured the Rock.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2012-05-26 |title=Gibraltar profile - Timeline |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-18222199 |access-date=2025-05-15 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref>
* '''2009''' 7 December - four armed [[Civil Guard (Spain)|Civil Guard]] officers are detained after three landed in Gibraltar in pursuit of two suspected smugglers, who were themselves arrested. The Spanish Interior Minister [[Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba]] personally telephoned Chief Minister [[Peter Caruana]] to apologize, stating that there were "no political intentions" behind the incident. The Chief Minister was prepared to accept it had not been a political act. Spanish officers were released by the Police the following day, who said that "Enquiries established that the Guardia Civil mistakenly entered Gibraltar Territorial Waters in hot pursuit and have since apologised for their actions"<ref>[http://www.gibnews.net/cgi-bin/gn_print.pl/?RGPX091207_1.xml Incident at Harbour Views] {{dead link|date=September 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref><ref>[http://www.chronicle.gi/headlines_details.php?id=17886 Apology avoids major fracas] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120227043806/http://www.chronicle.gi/headlines_details.php?id=17886 |date=27 February 2012 }}</ref>
* '''2009''' 12 December - Miss Gibraltar [[Kaiane Aldorino]] wins the title [[Miss World]] in [[Johannesburg]]. Her homecoming five days later is a major public event in Gibraltar.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.chronicle.gi/headlines_details.php?id=17978 |title=Homecoming event |access-date=20 December 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120312065654/http://www.chronicle.gi/headlines_details.php?id=17978 |archive-date=12 March 2012 |url-status=dead  }}</ref>
* '''2009''' 17 December - A ferry service restarts between Gibraltar and [[Algeciras]] after 40 years.<ref>[http://www.gibnews.net/cgi-bin/gn_view.pl/?GPIX091217_1.xml New ferry service]</ref>
* '''2010 -''' In order to overcome budget problems which follow the departure and arrest of the previous mayor, the mayor of La Linea de la Conception proposes to charge a toll for entry to Gibraltar, and to tax telephone lines to Gibraltar. The proposals are opposed by the Spanish Government<ref>[http://en.mercopress.com/2010/08/09/gibraltar-between-a-rock-and-a-hard-place] Gibraltar: Between a Rock and a hard place</ref> and the Gibraltar government has dismissed concerns.<ref>[http://www.gibnews.net/cgi-bin/gn_view.pl/?GOGX100810_1.xml] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303193115/http://www.gibnews.net/cgi-bin/gn_view.pl/?GOGX100810_1.xml|date=3 March 2016}} Government responds to Sanchez statements</ref>
* '''2011 -''' [[Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party|GSLP]] / [[Liberal Party of Gibraltar|Liberal]] Alliance returned to power in the [[2011 Gibraltar general election|2011 General Election]], bringing to an end 15 years of [[Gibraltar Social Democrats|GSD]] Government. [[Fabian Picardo]] becomes [[Chief Minister of Gibraltar|Chief Minister]].
* '''2016 -''' [[European Union (Referendum) Act 2016 (Gibraltar)|About 80 of the Gibraltar electorate favour remaining in EU]].
* '''2020''' - British exit from the EU renders Gibraltar foreign territory, but Spain retains the 'status quo', pending further negotiations, A preliminary agreement avoids a hard border between Gibraltar and Spain <ref>[https://english.elpais.com/brexit/2021-01-11/deal-between-spain-and-uk-plans-to-eliminate-gibraltar-border-checkpoint.html El País newspaper:Deal between Spain and UK plans to eliminate Gibraltar border checkpoint]</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Progress of UK-EU agreement in respect of Gibraltar: joint statement, 19 September 2024 |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/progress-of-uk-eu-agreement-in-respect-of-gibraltar-joint-statement-19-september |access-date=2025-04-10 |website=GOV.UK |language=en}}</ref>
* '''2024''' - British Foreign Secretary [[David Lammy]] reaffirms that Gibraltar's position as a British Overseas Territory is "not up for negotiation", following controversy around the UK's decision to relinquish control of the [[Chagos Archipelago|Chagos Islands]] (part of the [[British Indian Ocean Territory]]).<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-10-07 |title=Lammy says Falkland Islands and Gibraltar status non-negotiable |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cg4qe49ne3wo |access-date=2025-04-10 |website=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[History of Spain]]
* [[History of the United Kingdom]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book |first=George |last=Hills |year=1974 |title=Rock of Contention. A History of Gibraltar |publisher=Robert Hale |location=London |isbn=0-7091-4352-4 }}
* {{cite book |first=William |last=Jackson |year=1990 |title=The Rock of the Gibraltarians. A History of Gibraltar |publisher=Gibraltar Books | edition = second |location=Grendon, Northamptonshire, UK |isbn=0-948466-14-6 }}
* {{cite book |first=Isidro |last=Sepúlveda |year=2004 |title=Gibraltar. La razón y la fuerza (Gibraltar. The reason and the force) |publisher=Alianza Editorial | others = in Spanish |location=Madrid |isbn=84-206-4184-7 }} Chapter 2, "La lucha por Gibraltar" (The Struggle for Gibraltar) is available {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20110707141815/http://www.anayainfantilyjuvenil.com/catalogos/capitulos_promocion/LU00046301.pdf online]}} (PDF)
* {{cite book | title=Gibraltar: British or Spanish? | author=[[Peter Gold]] | publisher=Routledge | year=2005 | isbn=0-415-34795-5}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|History of Gibraltar}}
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20051212193432/http://www.gibconnect.com/~loonylenny/timeline/timeline.htm A Timeline of Gibraltar's History in ''Gibraltar for kids'']}}
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20120626103203/http://www.discovergibraltar.com/ History of Gibraltar (detailed) in discoverGibraltar.com]}}
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20051214111556/http://www.gibraltar.gov.gi/about_gib/history/history_index.htm Government of Gibraltar website: History of Gibraltar]}}
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20070104224825/http://www.marksanchez.info/books/writingtherock.html Writing the Rock of Gibraltar by M. G. Sanchez]}}. An online anthology of historical texts dealing with Gibraltar from 1720 to 1890.
* {{cite web |first=Thomas James |last=Finlayson |author-link=Tommy Finlayson |url=http://www.chronicle.gi/Features/tommy%20finlayson.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040428105456/http://www.chronicle.gi/Features/tommy%20finlayson.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=28 April 2004 |title=The Struggle for Democracy |publisher=[[Gibraltar Chronicle]] |access-date=21 October 2008  }} A history of the political evolution of Gibraltar from the 19th century to 2000.
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20071008062324/http://www.marksanchez.info/onlinewritings/amongrelrace.htm 'The mongrel race called rock scorpions': the negation of Gibraltarian identity and the politics of contempt]}}. An essay by Dr. M. G. Sanchez
* {{usurped|1=[https://archive.today/20130409165035/http://www.euroweeklynews.com/news/spain/item/111468-gibraltar-waters-area-of-special-conservation/ 'Gibraltar Waters a Special Conservation']}} [[euroweeklynews.com]] – English Language Newspaper in Spain

<br />{{Gibraltar topics}}
{{Europe topic|History of|template=yes}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:History Of Gibraltar}}
[[Category:History of Gibraltar]]
[[Category:Historical geography of Spain|Gibraltar]]
[[Category:Spain history-related lists]]
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