Gibraltar: British or Spanish???

When I go away from Gibraltar I am often asked “Do you feel British or Spanish?” I am British in almost every way but most importantly I feel Llanito.

This question has been asked for years and the answer has always been the same or similar. As I look back at our history, important events in my opinion were: 1704 when Gibraltar was taken by the British, 1713 when Gibraltar was given to Britain under the Treaty of Utrecht in which Spain gave up its claim over Gibraltar, and 1967 when the Gibraltar Referendum happened.

For me, the most important event is the 1967 referendum which is the living memory of most people in Gibraltar. It is a shame I was not around back then to witness this event. Nearly everybody said they would rather be British than Spanish – very few people actually wanted to be part of Spain. People came out on to the streets to celebrate the victory of the Spanish threat and democracy. During this time the whole of Gibraltar was painted red, white and blue – even today some of the paint and artwork can still be seen in many areas of the old town – in Upper Town.

This is still being celebrated today on the 10th September as it was declared our National Day. National Day is the day where Gibraltarians all come out to the streets dressed in our national colours (red & white) and celebrate our day of unity. Even tourists or foreign workers have become part of this tradition and also dress in red and white for the occasion.

After the referendum was done Spain saw it had failed to take over Gibraltar politically so Franco decided to make our life in Gibraltar hard and the last siege of Gibraltar was put into place when Spain closed the border with Gibraltar and cut communications off. In the years that the border was closed (1969 to 1982) the Gibraltar community and unity was built.

Many years have passed since these dark days but most people if not all feel proud to be called Gibraltarian (Llanito).