Disputed territory · Europe

Gibraltar

Quiet: the border fence came down in July 2026Updated October 12, 2026

Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory of about 6.8 km² at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, at the entrance to the Mediterranean. An Anglo-Dutch fleet captured it in 1704. Spain ceded it to Britain in the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. Spain still claims it. Gibraltarians have twice voted overwhelmingly to stay British. Since July 2026 a treaty between Britain and the EU has removed routine checks at the land border, without changing Britain's or Spain's position on sovereignty.

Walking across the airport runway, the way into Gibraltar from Spain on foot, with the Rock behind, in 2024. Photo: Thomas Dahlstrøm Nielsen, CC BY 4.0.

British since: 1704; ceded by Spain in 1713
Area: About 6.8 km²; the Rock rises to 426 m
People: 37,936; census, November 2022
Workers from Spain: About 15,600; frontier workers, February 2026
Held by: United Kingdom
Claimed by: Spain

Gibraltar in 30 seconds

An Anglo-Dutch fleet captured Gibraltar in 1704. Spain ceded it to Britain in the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 and has claimed it back ever since.
Gibraltarians voted 12,138 to 44 to stay British in 1967. In 2002 about 99% rejected shared British and Spanish sovereignty.
Spain closed the land border in 1969, and it fully reopened only in 1985. Today about 15,600 people cross from Spain to work in Gibraltar.
After Brexit, a treaty between Britain and the EU ended routine land-border checks in July 2026. Both Britain and Spain say their claims are unchanged.

Who controls Gibraltar?

Britain holds Gibraltar as a British Overseas Territory. Gibraltar elects its own parliament and government, which run its internal affairs. Britain is responsible for defense and foreign affairs. Fabian Picardo has been chief minister since 2011. He is stepping down. His party, the GSLP, is expected to choose a new leader in December 2026, who will then take over as chief minister. Gemma Arias-Vasquez, the health minister, is the only candidate. She would be Gibraltar's first woman chief minister.

Britain holds the Rock, the town and the southern part of the flat isthmus, where the airport stands. Spain says the isthmus was never ceded in 1713 and that Gibraltar has no waters beyond its port. Britain claims waters up to three nautical miles out. Spanish state vessels often enter them. Britain counted about 750 such entries in 2019, the latest yearly figure it has published. On September 4, 2026, a boat of Spain's Guardia Civil police chasing suspected smugglers entered the harbor, and Gibraltar's government called it "potentially very serious."

Map of the Strait of Gibraltar showing Gibraltar on the southern tip of Spain, across from Morocco and Ceuta — Gibraltar: British, claimed by Spain Ceuta: Spanish, claimed by Morocco Gibraltar, about 7 km², is too small to see at this scale. The ring marks it. Map data: Natural Earth.

How did Britain get Gibraltar?

An Anglo-Dutch fleet captured Gibraltar on August 4, 1704, during the War of the Spanish Succession. In the Treaty of Utrecht of July 13, 1713, Spain ceded the town, castle, port and fortifications to Britain forever. Article X says that if Britain ever gives Gibraltar up, Spain must be offered it first. It also cedes Gibraltar "without any territorial jurisdiction" and bans "open communication by land." Spain relies on both phrases today.

Spain and France besieged Gibraltar from 1779 to 1783 in the Great Siege. British soldiers dug tunnels through the Rock to fire on the attackers. Today the Rock holds more than 50 km of tunnels, most of them dug in World War II.

In 1967 Gibraltarians voted 12,138 to 44 to stay British. The UN General Assembly said the vote went against its resolutions and asked Britain and Spain to negotiate. Spain's dictator, Francisco Franco, closed the land border in June 1969. It reopened to pedestrians in December 1982 and fully on February 5, 1985.

How Gibraltar became British

1704An Anglo-Dutch fleet captures Gibraltar
1713Spain cedes it in the Treaty of Utrecht
1779The Great Siege begins and lasts until 1783
1967Gibraltarians vote 12,138 to 44 to stay British
1969Spain closes the land border
1985The border fully reopens
2002About 99% reject shared sovereignty
2026A UK-EU treaty ends land-border checks

What did Brexit change for Gibraltar?

Brexit threatened to put a hard EU border at Gibraltar's land border, which about 15,600 workers cross from Spain. On December 31, 2020, Britain and Spain agreed in principle to keep the border open. On June 11, 2025, Britain, Spain and the EU announced a political deal. The treaty was signed in Brussels on July 14, 2026, and has applied provisionally since July 15.

Routine checks at the land border ended. Spanish officers now carry out the checks for the Schengen area, the EU's passport-free zone, at Gibraltar's port and airport, alongside Gibraltar's own officers. Gibraltar joins a customs union with the EU and must bring in a sales tax of at least 15%. Article 2 says the treaty does not change Britain's or Spain's position on sovereignty. On July 15 Spain's prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, led the demolition of the last section of the fence at La Línea, the Spanish town on the border, saying "the last wall on the European mainland is coming down." The European Parliament is expected to vote on the treaty on December 14, 2026.

The 2016 Brexit vote

95.9%

Of Gibraltar's voters chose to stay in the EU

Gibraltar voted 19,322 to 823 to remain in the EU, on a turnout of 83.6%. Britain as a whole voted to leave. Gibraltar left the EU with Britain in 2020.

Does Spain still claim Gibraltar?

Yes. On the day the treaty was signed, Spain's foreign minister, José Manuel Albares, said Spain was "not changing a single comma" of its claim. Spain's two largest opposition parties, the People's Party and Vox, opposed the deal. Spain cites the Treaty of Utrecht and says the isthmus and the waters beyond the port were never ceded to Britain. The UN has listed Gibraltar since 1946 as a non-self-governing territory, one still to be decolonized.

Britain promises never to hand Gibraltar to another state against its people's wishes, a pledge first written into Gibraltar's 1969 constitution. In October 2026, in his last speech to a UN committee as chief minister, Picardo asked the UN to take Gibraltar off its list. "Cooperation we welcome, but we will never capitulate," he said.

Each side in its own words

Spain"Not changing a single comma" of its claim (José Manuel Albares, July 2026)
United KingdomSovereignty "is not up for negotiation" (Stephen Doughty, British minister, October 2024)
Gibraltar"Cooperation we welcome, but we will never capitulate" (Fabian Picardo, October 2026)

What is life like on the Rock?

Gibraltar is small and rich. Its government estimated GDP per person at about £80,900 in 2024-25. Online gambling companies produce about 30% of Gibraltar's economy and about a third of its tax revenue. Its port is one of the western Mediterranean's largest refueling stops for ships. Corporate tax is 15%.

The only road to Spain used to cross the airport runway and close more than 15 times a day for flights. A tunnel under the runway opened to vehicles on March 31, 2023, but people on foot and on bicycles still cross the runway. John Lennon and Yoko Ono married in Gibraltar on March 20, 1969, in a ceremony of about 10 minutes. Lennon sang about it in "The Ballad of John and Yoko."

Barbary macaques

About 230

The only wild monkeys in Europe

A legend says Britain will lose Gibraltar when the monkeys leave the Rock. On September 2, 1944, Winston Churchill ordered that their number be kept at 24. The governor reportedly had to send London the names and ages of every macaque every six months. Today about 230 Barbary macaques, a tailless monkey from North Africa, live on the Upper Rock in six groups.

What is at stake in Gibraltar?

The strait
Gibraltar guards the entrance to the Mediterranean. The strait is about 13 km wide at its narrowest point, west of the Rock. Britain keeps a naval base on the Rock, and British submarines, including nuclear-powered ones, call there.
Daily life
About 15,600 people, most of them Spanish, cross from Spain to work in Gibraltar. For them, the treaty's main effect is the end of routine land-border checks in July 2026.
Sovereignty
The treaty leaves the dispute where it was. Spain still claims Gibraltar. Britain still refuses to negotiate sovereignty without Gibraltarians' consent. The UN still lists Gibraltar as a territory to be decolonized.

Questions about Gibraltar

Is Gibraltar part of the UK or Spain?

Neither, strictly. Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory. It is British sovereign territory with its own government, but it is not part of the United Kingdom itself. Spain claims it. Gibraltarians are British citizens and voted in 1967 and 2002 to stay British.

Is there still a border between Gibraltar and Spain?

Not at the old fence. Since July 15, 2026, people cross the land border without routine checks. Spanish officers check travelers arriving at Gibraltar's port and airport instead, as at the EU's outer border. The treaty applies only provisionally for now. The European Parliament is expected to vote on it on December 14, 2026. In Britain, the period in which Parliament can object ends on October 22, 2026.

Why do people walk across Gibraltar's runway?

The airport runway crosses the isthmus between the Rock and Spain, so the road to Spain once crossed the runway. Cars now use a tunnel opened in 2023. People on foot and on bicycles still cross when no plane is landing or taking off.

Why does the UN still list Gibraltar?

The UN has listed Gibraltar as a non-self-governing territory, one still to be decolonized, since 1946. Spain says decolonization means handing Gibraltar back to Spain, and in 1967 the UN General Assembly asked Britain and Spain to negotiate. Gibraltar's government says its people must decide and has asked the UN to take Gibraltar off the list.