Timeline of the history of Gibraltar

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Evidence of hominid inhabitation of the Rock dates back to the Neanderthals. A Neanderthal skull was discovered in Forbes' Quarry in 1848, indeed prior to the "original" discovery in the Neander Valley. In 1926, the skull of a Neanderthal child was found in Devil's Tower.

The Phoenicians are known to have visited the Rock circa 950 BC and named the Rock Calpe. The Carthaginians also visited, however neither group appears to have settled permanently. Plato refers to Gibraltar as one of the Pillars of Hercules along with Jebel Musa or Monte Hacho on the other side of the Strait.

Gibraltar was next visited by the Romans. Again, no permanent settlement was established. Following the fall of the Roman Empire, Gibraltar was visited by the Vandals and later the Goths. The Vandals' stay was temporary; however, the Visigoths were to remain on the Iberian peninsula from 414 to 711. However, the Gibraltar area, such as the rest of the South Iberian Peninsula was part of the Byzantine Empire during the second part of the 6th century (reverting afterwards to the Visigoth Kingdom).

• 711 April 30 - The Umayyad general Tariq ibn Ziyad, leading a Berber-dominated army, sailed across the Strait from Ceuta. He first attempted to land on Algeciras but failed. Upon his failure, he landed undetected at the southern point of the Rock from present-day Morocco in his quest for Spain. 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 Medinat al-Fath (City of the Victory). On completion of the works in the town, the Sultan crossed the Strait to inspect the works and stayed in Gibraltar for two months. The Tower of Homage of the castle remains 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, his domains were handed over to Muhammed ibn Nasr, the founder of the Nasrid kingdom of Granada. Therefore, Gibraltar changed hands again.
• 1274 - The second Nasrid king, Muhammed II al-Faqih, gave Gibraltar over to the Marinids, as payment for their help against the Christian kingdoms.
• 1309 - While the King Ferdinand IV of Castile laid siege on Algeciras, Alonso Pérez de Guzmán (known to the Spanish records as Guzmán el Bueno) was sent to capture the town. This was the First Siege of Gibraltar. The Castilians took the Upper Rock from where the town was bombarded. The garrison surrendered after one month. Gibraltar then had about 1,500 inhabitants.
• 1310 31 January - Gibraltar was granted its first Charter by the king Ferdinand IV of Castile. Being considered a high risk town, the charter included incentives to settle there such as the offering of freedom from justice to anyone who lived in Gibraltar for one year and one day.

This fact marked the establishment of the Gibraltar council.

• 1316 - Gibraltar was unsuccessfully besieged by the Nasrid caid Yahya (Second Siege of Gibraltar).
• 1333 June - A Marinids army, lead by Abd al-Malik, the son of Abul Hassan, the Marinid sultan, recovered Gibraltar, after a five-month siege (Third Siege of Gibraltar).

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)

• 1344 March - After a two-year siege, Algeciras was taken over by the Castilian forces. Therefore, 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 the king Alfonso XI.
• 1350 - The siege was resumed by Alfonso XI. It was again unsuccessful, mainly due to the arrival of the Black Death, which decimated the besiegers, causing the death of the king (Fifth Siege of Gibraltar).
• 1369 - Algeciras was taken over by the Nasrids, destroyed and its harbour made unusable. This fact increased again the importance of Gibraltar in the strait trade.
• 1374 - Gibraltar was recovered by the Nasrids (Sixth Siege of Gibraltar).
• 1436 - Enrique de Guzmán, Count of Niebla, with large estates in South Andalusia assaulted Gibraltar. However, his attack was repelled and Castilian forces suffer heavy losses (Seventh Siege of Gibraltar).

• 1462 August 20 - Castilian forces captured Gibraltar (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 succeeded and he took possession of the town as personal property. However, the King 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 Santa María Church (the old Moorish Mosque). St. Bernard, whose feast falls on the 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, half-brother of Henry IV, and puppet pretender handled by the nobility, granted him the Lordship of Gibraltar (Nineth Siege of Gibraltar).
• 1469 June 3 - After the death of Alfonso de Castilla and the 1st Duke of Medina Sidonia, his son and heir 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 the Queen Isabella of Castile.
• 1470 December 20 - A new charter was granted to the town of Gibraltar, now a nobiliary town, based in the Antequera charter.
• 1478 September 30 - The Catholic Monarchs granted the title of Marquis of Gibraltar to the Duke of Medina Sidonia.
• 1492 - After conquering Granada, the Catholic Monarchs expelled the Jews from Spain. 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 Alfonso Perez de Guzman, 3rd Duke of Medina Sidonia saw his lordship over Gibraltar 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 December 2 - Acknowledging the importance of the town, the Catholic Monarchs asked the Duke of Medina Sidonia for the return of Gibraltar to the Royal domain. The Duke accepted the Royal request and ceded the town to the monarchs.
• 1502 January 2 - Garcilaso de la Vega tooks posesion of the town on behalf of the Queen Isabella of Castile.
• 1502 July 10 - By a Royal Warrant passed in Toledo, the Catholic Monarchs granted to Gibraltar its 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 the 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).
• 1540 September 8 - Corsairs from the coast of Barbary (ruled by Barbarossa) raided Gibraltar and took away many captives.
• 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 defences 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).
• 1606 - The Moriscos (the descendants of the Muslim inhabitants in Spain) were expelled from Spain by King Philip III. Many many passed through Gibraltar on their way into exile in North Africa.
• 1607 April 25 - During the Eighty Years War, a Dutch fleet surprised and engaged a Spanish fleet anchored at the Bay of Gibraltar (Battle of Gibraltar).
• 1649 - Typhoid epidemic in the town.
• 1656 - In a letter to Councillor General Montagu (afterwards Earl of Sandwich), General-at-sea and one of the Protector's personal friends, 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 October 20, 1625).
• 1700 November 1 - King Charles II of Spain died. In the autumn he had made a will bequeathing the whole of the Spanish possessions to Prince Philip of Bourbon, a grandson of Louis XIV backed by France. The other pretender, an Austrian Hapsburg, Archduke Charles, supported by Austria, England, Holland and the Holy Roman Empire, did not accept Charles II's testament. The result was the War of the Spanish Succession.

• 1701 September - England, Netherlands and Austria signed the Treaty of the Hague.
• 1702 - The War of the Spanish Succession started.
• 1703 February 12 - The Archduke Charles was proclaimed king of Castile and Aragon in Vienna. He took the name of Charles III ([1]).

(There is usually a discrepancy on the chronology between Spanish and British sources. The reason is that England still used the Julian calendar. By 1704, the Julian calendar was eleven days behind the Gregorian. Therefore, the siege began on 21 July according to the Julian calendar)

• 1704 August 1 - 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 Archduke Charles. The Governor of Gibraltar, Diego de Salinas, refused the ultimatum. A brigade of Dutch and British Marines, 1,800 strong, under the command of Prince George of Hesse-Darmstadt, chief commander of the Alliance Army in Spain, began to besiege Gibraltar, in the name of the Archduke Charles. A small group of Spaniards, mainly Catalans, was integrated in the troops of the Prince of Hesse.
• 1704 night of 3-4 August - Heavy shelling targeted the castle and the town.
• 1704 August 4 - The Governor Diego de Salinas surrendered the town to Prince George of Hesse, who took it in the name of 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 The Attack on Gibraltar. Friday 2nd August 1704 in the Gibraltar Chronicle)

The exact beginning of the English/British occupation of Gibraltar has been over the time imprecise. From the 18th century, Spanish sources reported that immediately after the takeover of the city, Sir George Rooke, the British admiral, on his own initiative caused the British flag to be hoisted, and took possession of the Rock in name of Queen Anne, 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 its speech at the United Nations in 1994, the Gibraltar Chief Minister Joe Bossano stated that Gibraltar has been a British colony ever since it was taken by Britain in 1704 [2]). Also, some sources account the flag story (see History page in the official Tercentenary web site: He [Rooke] had the Spanish flag hauled down and the English flag hoisted in its stead; or BBC Radio 4's "The Sceptred Isle: Empire, a 90 part history of the British Empire": Rooke's men quickly raised the British flag ... and Rooke claimed the Rock in the name of Queen Anne).

However, it is proved by present-day historians that this version is apocryphal since no contemporary source accounts it. Isidro Sepúlveda, William Jackson and George Hills explicitly refute it (Sepúlveda points out that if such a fact had actually happened, it would have caused a big crisis in the Alliance supporting the Archduke Charles (see "Gibraltar. La razón y la fuerza", pg. 90, by Isidro Sepúlveda, Ed. Alianza Editorial, 2004, in Spanish); in "Rock of Contention", George Hills explains that the story is first accounted by the Marquis of San Felipe, who wrote his book "Comentarios de la guerra de España e historia de su rey Phelipe V el animoso" in 1725, more than twenty year after the fact. The marquis was not eye-witness and can be considered as no reliable source for the facts that took place in Gibraltar in 1704. As Hills conclude: "The flag myth ... may perhaps be allowed now to disappear from Anglo-Spanish polemics. On the one side they have been used to support a claim to the Rock 'by right of conquest'; on the other to ... pour on Britain obloquy for perfidy").

What does seem 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.

• 1704 August 7. A large column of inhabitants of the city (4,000 according to most of the sources, such as Hills or Jackson), with Queen Isabella's banner at their head, and led by the Spanish Governor, Diego de Salinas, the Spanish garrison and the members of the city council, abandoned the city. Most of them took refuge in the proximity of the chapel of San Roque, possibly waiting for a rapid reconquest of the town, where the Gibraltar council was re-established two years later, founding a new town named San Roque (therefore San Roque official motto is "The town of San Roque, where that of Gibraltar lives on", in Spanish: 'La Ciudad de San Roque, donde reside la de Gibraltar', see San Roque Council Web site (in Spanish)). The refugees took with them the symbols and objects of 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 Holy Crowned Virgin Mary. These objects (see San Roque Council Web site, in Spanish) remain nowadays in San Roque. 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 city (most of them religious or belonging to the Genovese trader colony; see list in [3]). The traditions of the villages that received those refugees still talk of this departure as the Exodus of Gibraltar (Éxodo de Gibraltar).
• 1704 August 24 - 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 Málaga). The result was uncertain, with heavy losses on both sides, but anyway the Spanish-French fleet was stopped and prevented from arriving at Gibraltar.

• 1704 September 5 - Troops of France and Spain under the marquess of Villadarias, General Captain of Andalusia, started to beseige Gibraltar to try to recover it (this one would be 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 July), and reinforced shortly before by a further 400 Royal Marines, held the fortress against repeated attacks.
• 1704 November 11 - A notable incident during the siege: 500 French and Spanish volunteer grenadiers tried to surprise the garrison. 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 by the Marshal of France de Tessé.
• 1705 February 7 - 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 March 31 - The Count de Tessé gave up the siege and retired.

Although nominally in the hands of the Archduke Charles, 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.

• 1705 August 2 - The Archduke Charles stopped over in Gibraltar in 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 reccomendation of Queen Anne).
• 1706 February 17 - Queen Anne, though she has no powers to do so, 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).
• 1707 24 December - The first British Governor directly appointed by the Queen Anne, Roger Elliott, took up residence in the Convent of the Franciscan Friars.
• 1711 - The British government, now in the hands of the tories, ordered the British Gibraltar governor, Thomas Stanwix, to expell any foreign (not British) troops. Although he answered positively, he allowed a Dutch regiment to stay. It remained there until March 1713.

• 1713 - The territory was subsequently ceded to Great Britain in perpetuity by Spain in the Treaties of Utrecht. Despite some attempts by the Spanish to retake it, 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 stipulates 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 resupplied by sea. Another condition of the cession is 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 never enforced and Gibraltar has had for many years an established Jewish community, along with Muslims from North Africa.

Finaly, under the Treaty, should the British crown wish to dispose of Gibraltar, that of Spain should be offered the territory first.

• 1721 March - Philip V of Spain requested the restitution of Gibraltar to proceed to the renewal of the trade licenses of Great Britain with the Spanish possessions in America.
• 1721 June 1 - 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" ([4]). However, the British Parliament never endorsed such promise.
• 1727 February-June - Second of the sieges by Spain tried to recapture Gibraltar (Thirteenth Siege of Gibraltar). Depending on the sources, Spanish troops were between 12,000 and 25,000. British defenders were 1,500 at the begining of the siege, increasing up to about 5,000. After a five-month siege with several unsuccessful and costly attempts, Spanish troops give up and retire.
• 1729 - At the end of the Anglo-Spanish War of 1727-1729, the Treaty of Seville confirming all previous treaties (including the Treaty of Utrecht) allowed Great Britain to keep Menorca and Gibraltar.
• 1730 - A Belgian Engineer, the Marquis of Verboom, Chief Engineer of the Spanish Royal Engineer Corps, who has 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 are built. The fortifications, known to the British as the Spanish Lines, and to Spain as La Línea de Contravalación were the origin of modern-day town of La Línea de la Concepción.
• 1776 February 23 - One of the heaviest storms ever recorded in Gibraltar. The lower part of the town was flooded. Linewall was breached along 100 m.
• 1779 June - In the midst of the American Revolutionary War, Spain declared war against Great Britain (France had done it the year before)
• 1779 July - Start of the Great Siege of Gibraltar (fourthteen and last military siege). This was an action by French and Spanish forces to wrest control of Gibraltar from the established British Garrison. The garrison, led by George Augustus Eliott, later 1st Baron Heathfield of Gibraltar, survived all attacks and a blockade of supplies.
• 1782 September 13 - Start of an assault involving 100,000 men, 48 ships and 450 cannon. The British garrison survived.
• 1783 February. By now the siege was over, and George Augustus Eliott was awarded the Knight of the Bath and was created 1st Baron Heathfield of Gibraltar. The Treaties of Versailles reaffirmed previous treaties.

In 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 gives the walls their present white appearance.

• 1802 - Several mutinies among some regiments garrisoned in Gibraltar.
• 1803 June - 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.
• 1805 January - The great epidemic ended. Over a third of the civilian population (5,946 people) died.
• 1805 October 21 - Battle of Trafalgar.
• 1805 October 28 - 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 See of Cadiz)
• 1810 - Great Britain and Spain became allies against Napoleon.
• 1810 February - The Anglo-Spanish alliance gave the Governor of Gibraltar the opportunity of removing 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, Lieutenant General Sir Colin Campbell instructed Royal Engineers to blow the forts up. Such a task was carried out on February 14 together with the demolition of the rest of fortifications of the Spanish Lines.
• During the Peninsular War, contingents from the Gibraltar Garrison were sent to aid Spanish resistence to the French at Cadiz and Tarifa.

• 1814 - Outbreak of malignant fever.
• 1817 - The first civil judge was established.
• 1822 August 21 - The Anglican Diocese of Gibraltar was founded by Letters Patent and took over the pastoral care of the chaplaincies and congregations from Portugal to the Caspian Sea.
• 1830 - Gibraltar became a British Crown Colony.

Gibraltar Police Force was established.

• During the reign of Isabel II of Spain, who wished to recover the lost Spanish Empire, a Spanish minister had an idea to exchange the Chincha Islands, which it had captured from Peru in 1864, with Gibraltar, but this project never came to fruition.
• 1869 - The Suez Canal was opened. It heavily increased the strategic value of the Rock in the route from the United Kingdom to India.
• 1894 - The construction of the dockyards started.
• 1908 August 5 - 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 in the isthmus to prevent smuggling and reduce sentry duty. According to the British government, the fence was erected inside British territory. Spain does not recognize the fence as the valid border, since it claims the fence was build 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.
• 1922 - The City Council was established and the first elections held in Gibraltar.

• 1939-1945 - During the Second World War the civilian residents of Gibraltar were evacuated, and the Rock was again turned into a fortress. Control of Gibraltar gave the Allied Powers control of the entry to the Mediterranean Sea (the other side of the Strait being Spanish territory, and thus neutral). The Rock was a key part of the Allied supply lines to Malta and North Africa, and the horse racecourse near the fence was converted into an airport. The repatriation of the civilians started in 1944 and proceeded for some six years. However most of the population had returned by 1946.

  1941 - Germany planned to occupy Gibraltar (and presumably hand it over to Spain) in "Operation Felix" which was due to start on 10th January 1941 (see Hitler's Directive No.18 here). 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 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 - Gibraltar harbour was attacked many times by Italian commando frogmen.

• 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.
• 1954 - This was the 250th anniversary of its capture. Queen Elizabeth II visited Gibraltar, which angered General Franco, who renewed its 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, while only Spanish nationals employed on the Rock being allowed to enter Gibraltar. For about 30 years, the land border was closed (from the Spanish side), to try to isolate the territory.
• 1955 - Spain joined United Nations.

At the United Nations, Spain argued that the principle of territorial integrity, not self-determination, applied in the case 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 (2231 (XXI) ("Question of Gibraltar") and 2353 (XXII) ("Question of Gibraltar")) urging United Kingdom and Spain to overcome their differences, respecting the "interests" of the people of Gibraltar. For its part, United Kingdom stated that it would respect the "wishes" of the people of Gibraltar, and that there would be no change of sovereignty against their wishes.

A small group of Gibraltarians, known as the palomos or 'doves', advocated a political settlement with Spain, and met with Spanish Foreign Office officials (a meeting was even held with the very Spanish Foreign Office Minister) to try and bring this about ("Informe sobre Gibraltar. 1996", pg. 42, several authors, INCIPE). This provoked widespread public hostility in Gibraltar (with attacks to their homes and properties, Rock's voters signal rejection of Spanish deal, at The Guardian) and civil unrest. Even now, the "palomos" have not been "forgiven" and are still called traitors.

• 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 to the Spanish Courts 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)
• 1967 - A referendum 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.

The Spanish claim had few chances to be accepted by Gibraltarians, even having promised that Gibraltarians could keep their British citizenship and the town would retain a special status within Spain. At that moment, such a claim was being made by an extreme right-wing dictatorship which had arised from a bloody civil war (neutral but alligned with the Axis Powers in the Second World War) which did not allow its own citizens the civil liberties that the British government guaranteed to them. Furthermore, the Spanish economy, though beginning to grow, was still very backward (especially compared to the living standard the Gibraltarians had achieved), while at the same time working class people across the frontier were living in a state of great poverty. The idea of Spain participating in any way the sovereignty of the Rock was surely unacceptable for the Gibraltarian public oppinion.

Not surprishingly, Gibraltarians ignored Spanish pressure and voted overwhelmingly by 12,138 to 44 to remain under British sovereignty. Although the Spanish goverment got a diplomatic triumph in the United Nations (since the resolution 2353 states that the holding of the referendum [...] to be a contravention of the provisions of General Assembly resolution 2231 (XXI)), it had no effect in the political evolution of Gibraltar.

• 1969 - A new constitution for Gibraltar was introduced by the United Kingdom Government. Under it, Gibraltar attained full internal self-government, with an elected House of Assembly. 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 June 8 - In response, Spain closed the border with Gibraltar, and severed all communication links. 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 [5]) lost their jobs in Gibraltar.

The closing of the border was a severe shock for the Gibraltarians, who became aware that across the frontier there was a hostile and threatening foreign power. The closure of the fence would last thirteen years and was considered the Gibraltarians as the last in a series of sieges held by Spain to attempt to secure the surrender of the town.

• 1969 - Major Robert (later Sir Robert) Peliza of the Integration with Britain Party (IWBP) was elected Chief Minister.
• 1972 - Joshua (later Sir Joshua) Hassan of the Association for the Advancement of Civil Rights (AACR) was returned to power.
• 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. 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 this situation with regard to Gibraltar remained unchanged, with the border not partially reopened until 1982 (fully in 1985).
• 1980 July - The new Anglican Diocese of Europe was formed, with the former Diocese of Gibraltar and the Jurisdiction of North and Central Europe. The new diocese became the 44th Diocese of the Church of England. Gibraltar's Holy Trinity Church was consecrated as diocese Cathedral.
• 1981 - The British Nationality Act 1981 effectively made Gibraltar a Dependent Territory and granted Gibraltarians full British citizenship. The act was ratified in 1983.
• 1982 December 7 - The re-opening of the border was delayed in the wake of the war between United Kingdom and Argentina over the Falkland Islands. The re-opening was only partial, as only pedestrians resident in Gibraltar and Spain were allowed to cross the border.
• 1985 - Spain sought to join the European Communities (it did it next year). Under the Brussels Agreement (27th November 1984) [6] signed between the United Kingdom and Spain, the former agreed to enter into discussions with Spain over Gibraltar, including sovereignty. The border was fully reopened.
• 1987 December 2 - A proposal for joint control of Gibraltar's airport with Spain [7] led to widespread opposition locally. Chief Minister Sir Joshua Hassan resigned at the end of that year, to be 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.
• 1988 - The Special Air Service of the British Army shot dead three unarmed members of the IRA near the Spanish border, claiming they were making "suspicious movements". A subsequent search led to the discovery of a car containing a large amount of Semtex explosive, which they had planned to use to bomb the 'Changing of the Guard' ceremony a few days later.
• 1996 - In an election, Bossano was replaced by Peter Caruana of the Gibraltar Social-Democrats (GSD), who while favouring dialogue with Spain, also ruled out any deals on sovereignty.
• 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 have been rejected by all parties in the Gibraltar House of Assembly.
• 1991 - The Spanish Socialist government of Felipe González proposed joint sovereignty over Gibraltar with the United Kingdom. A similar proposal was advocated by Peter Cumming, formerly of the GSD, in which the Rock would become a self-governing condominium or 'Royal City', with the British and Spanish monarchs as joint heads of state.
• 1997 - The 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 region, similar to Catalonia or the Basque Country, but these were rejected by 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 Gibraltar's courts, police and government departments, driving licences, and identity cards. 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 - The nuclear submarine HMS Tireless (S88) was repaired in Gibraltar. This caused diplomatic tension with Spain, which expressed its concern about the effective safety for the inhabitants of Gibraltar and those living in its hinterland -some 250,000 people (Press conference of the Spanish Foreign Office Minister, Mr. Pique in London, of 2001 January 24). The inhabitants of the area saw this repair as a precedent of future nuclear repair operations in Gibraltar. The Gibraltar government has accused Spain of using this incident as an excuse to go on creating a dispute over Gibraltar, since there are more severe environmental problems in the Bay [8] and American nuclear vessels are possibly repaired in Rota without any complaint [9].

• 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 - The Gibraltar government organised a referendum on 7 November. The voters rejected shared sovereignty by 17,900 votes to 187 on a turnout of almost 88%. The wording of the 2002 referendum was:

On the 12th July 2002 the Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, in a formal statement in the 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 United Kingdom and Spain should share sovereignty over Gibraltar.

Do you approve of the principle that Britain and Spain should share sovereignty over Gibraltar?

The Gibraltarians did not approve. 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.

• 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 all other British Overseas Territories, which was already made availalable to Gibraltarians by 1983.
• 2004 August - Gibraltar celebrated 300 years of British rule. Spanish officials labeled this as the celebration of 300 years of British occupation [10].
• 2004 November 18 - 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 Gibraltarian government.
• 2004 October 28 - The governments of the United Kingdom and Spain agreed to allow the Gibraltar government to represent itself in a new open agenda discussion forum (so called tripartite talks) [11].
• 2005 July 11 - First tripartite talks took place in Portugal [12].

• "Rock of Contention. A History of Gibraltar", by George Hills (Hale, 1974), ISBN 0-7091-4352-4. George Hills was a BBC World Service broadcaster, Spanish Historian and Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.
• The Rock of the Gibraltarians. A History of Gibraltar, by Sir William G. F. Jackson, Gibraltar Books Ltd. Grendon, Northants, 1990, 2nd ed. ISBN 0-948466-14-6. General Sir William Jackson was Governor of Gibraltar between 1978 and 1982, a military Historian and former Chairman of the Friends of Gibraltar Heritage.

• "Gibraltar. La razón y la fuerza" (Gibraltar. The reason and the force), by Isidro Sepúlveda, Ed. Alianza Editorial, 2004, ISBN 84-206-4184-7. Chapter 2, "La lucha por Gibraltar" (The Struggle for Gibraltar) is available online (PDF). Isidro Sepúlveda Muñoz is a Contemporary History Professor in the UNED ("Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia"), the biggest Spanish university.
• "Ceuta, Melilla, Olivenza y Gibraltar. Donde termina España" (Ceuta, Melilla, Olivenza y Gibraltar. Where Spain ends), by Máximo Cajal, Ed. Siglo XXI Editores, Madrid, 2003, ISBN 84-323-1138-3. Máximo Cajal is a Spanish diplomatist, ambassador in different countries and currently the special representant of the Spanish Prime Minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, in the Alliance of Civilizations. He was the only survivor of the assault of the Embassy of Spain in Guatemala by the forces of the Guatemalan dictatorship in 1980.

• A Timeline of Gibraltar's History in Gibraltar for kids
• History of Gibraltar (detailed) in discoverGibraltar.com
• Government of Gibraltar website: History of Gibraltar