Gibraltar in the spotlight: the Rock in a hard place over Brexit, tax … and sewage

With Brexit negotiations currently in a quagmire, those holding fast to the Rock of Gibraltar have had a chance to breathe these last few months. April saw our tabloids raise the very 16th-century idea of Anglo-Spanish war after the EU confirmed a veto for Spain in discussions about Gibraltar’s post-Brexit status. The spat died down – but the 50th anniversary this weekend of the 1967 referendum, in which 99.64% of Gibraltarians voted to stay British, brings the question of sovereignty bobbing to the surface again. With 30,000 crammed around the promontory, it remains a British overseas territory; self-governing and not part of the UK, but ceding responsibility for defence and foreign affairs to London. Spain has long demanded its return, but Brexit added a new twist down on the Costa del Brit: 96% of citizens voted Remain.

Between a rock …

Despite the pro-EU feeling, Gibraltar has resolved to stand with the UK. But – aside from strengthening Spain’s claim on the 7km² outcrop – Brexit brings other complications. Early suggestions were that the Spanish government may use negotiations to attack the tax-haven status that has made Gibraltar a centre for banking, insurance, gambling and online gaming; an “unjustified privilege”, in its eyes. The status of Gibraltar airport – awkwardly spanning the isthmus behind the Rock that Spain claims is not subject to the treaty granting Britain sovereignty – is another sticking point. The fear is that, if Brexit turns nasty, Spain might decide to shut the border. Not all locals love the EU, but it has been a buffer against headstrong politics. As Gibraltar chief minister Fabian Picardo recently said: “It was only in the negotiations for the Spanish to access the then European Economic Community that Spain finally opened the frontier. We see the EU as a guarantor of the freedom of movement of people.”

Gibraltar in numbers …

426m – height of the Rock.

0.6 – banks per 1,000 people, the fifth highest per capita rate in the world.

110 – goals conceded by Gibraltar’s national football team since being granted Uefa membership in 2013.

£1,200 – yearly pension offered by the British government to Lieutenant Henry Shrapnel in 1814, in recognition of his invention of the eponymous shell during the great siege of Gibraltar.