The one time Spain had a chance to retake Gibraltar, Franco refused. Why? Because picking a side that might lose, will cost Spain more than Gibraltar. In the end, remaining neutral, for the most part, was best for Spain. And Gibraltar remains British.

I visited Gibraltar 12 years ago and fell in love with the place and its people! During my visit, I learned many of the historical details outlined in this video that relate to Gibraltar’s ongoing connection with Britain. One thing not mentioned in the video is that citizens of Gibraltar enjoy benefits the same benefits as British citizens, such as higher education and healthcare, which provide a higher standard of living than is common in Spain. On a side note, a Gibraltar restaurant served me the BEST fish and chips I have ever eaten. Absolutely delicious!

Gibraltar, it's actually more British than Britain. When I went there they actually had a pub in the supermarket.

Gibraltar name origin: The name is derived from the Arabic "Jabal Ṭāriq" which means "Mount of Tariq". Named after the 8th-century Moorish military leader Tariq ibn Ziyad. This continues to be its name in Arabic. As for its ancient history: Evidence of Neanderthal habitation in Gibraltar from around 50,000 years ago has been discovered at Gorham's Cave. Gibraltar was regarded by the peoples of the Mediterranean as a place of religious and symbolic importance. The Phoenicians were present for several centuries since around 950 BC, apparently using Gorham's Cave as a shrine to the genius loci, as did the Carthaginians and Romans after them. Gibraltar was then known as Mons Calpe, and it was considered by Romans and Greeks as a pillar of Hercules.

Great short history lesson! I like your channel, perfect to play in the morning or at night to start or end the day. Keep them coming.

Gibraltar has a pretty neat flag! It's the only British Overseas Territory flag to not have the Union flag on the upper left corner of the flag! The flag was adopted in November 1982 and is based on the coat of arms of Gibraltar, granted by Royal Warrant from Queen Isabella I of Castile in July 1502! The castle represents Gibraltar's status as a strategic fortress, while the key represents Gibraltar being the key to the Mediterranean. The largest battle of the American Revolution by number of combatants didn't even take place in what's now the US! It was actually that time you mentioned Spain tried to take Gibraltar from 1779 to 1783! Spain, joining the side of France, saw Gibraltar as their primary aim. Spain and France had a combined strength of 65,000 while Britain and Hanover defended Gibraltar with 7,500 and 12 gunboats! The assault was a humiliating failure, and a British relief convoy under Howe sneaking in past a barricade and joining the garrison in October 1782 sealed the deal

Im Gibraltarian, its surprising and nice to see my very tiny irrelevant homeland getting a little bit of attention :-)

Maybe do a video on Spains colonies in Africa. Ceuta and Mellilia.

Let's go Your videos are amazing!

My grandmother was born and raised in Gibraltar. She was so proud of it. Her family moved to New York, where she met a son of an Italian and got married. Then they moved to Costa Rica. My mom visited Gibraltar on 2011.

Spain sometimes rattles on about wanting Britain's enclave of Gibraltar, but are they willing to surrender their own enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla to Morocco?

was out there for 6 week back in 2016 loved it would move there if it was not so expensive, determined to retire there. Great video I did not know the history in depth.

I do like videos like this because I feel like when people think about Gibraltar, they thinking oh it's a territory that the british are refusing to let go of but not realising that the people of Gibraltar they voted to remain british a number of times, its not the UK's goverments choice but the people from Gibraltars choice, as it should be.

As always amezing 🔥💥❤️

An old pal of mine is Gibraltarian. Many have Spanish surnames, and English first names. The referendums were telling. Ppl who voted against remaining British were often embarrassed publicly. The people of the Rock love being British. UK has been a parliamentary democracy while Spain has swerved from autocratic monarchy, to far left republican to fascist recency to a modern constitutional monarchy .. choosing between UK and Spain is a no brainer to the people of Gibraltar.

Fantastic video keep it you're doing great job

The fact that people are comparing this to Ceuta and Melilla They're two total different cases since Spain had Ceuta and Melilla before the existance of Morroco And the UN recognizes Gibraltar has a colony

Same thing happened in Texas and Hawaii… Americans overtook the land, filled it up with their population and when a statehood referendum was made obvisouly the people felt American yet native Hawaiians or Mexican in Texas didn’t like it

Wow!!!This is an interesting topic indeed,good friends!!!:-D

Spain owns two territories in Morocco - Ceuta and Melilla - which undermines their claim to Gibraltar somewhat. Also Franco did owe gratitude to Britain for enabling his rise to power by smuggling him from the Canary Islands to Morocco, therefore sparking the Spanish Civil War. We did that as we were worried Spain was about to become a communist state.

The Gibraltarians are the people who decide. They chose overwhelmingly to remain British in the last referendum this may change in time if they so choose but it may suite them to remain British for the foreseeable

It's very simply of a civilians point of view why not to join Spain, as literally one of the poorest Spanish cities is next to Gibraltar and Gibraltar itself is very rich...

I love seeing yalls videos but I gotta ask, why were there so few graphics and stats? I mean, like dates and names printed on the screen.

I like Gibraltar but it's also a weird place - it's like a pokey British town on the side of a mountain and everything is in miniature - small highstreet, small supermarkets etc. since space is at a premium. There is absolutely no doubt at all that the people living there consider themselves British and have no intention of uniting with Spain. The funny part is Spain also has enclaves in Morocco and there is a little bit of "you too" going on whenever they complain about Gibraltar.

3:07 -- Actually, Spain did not lose Florida as a result of the American Revolutionary War of 1776. And, in fact, it did not "lose" Florida. It was sold to the U.S. in 1819 for $5 million.

From history point of view, while Spain was neutral during WW2, it was beneficial for the world that the gate to enter the Mediterranean sea was under control of the British

I have spent a week in Gibraltar last year, very beautiful place. I am currently living and working on the Isle of Man, but I am thinking of relocating to Gibraltar.

The Vichy French ( the French that collaborated with the Germans ) attempted to bomb Gibraltar from their bases in North Africa at least twice but were extremely unsuccessful ! Mainly as attempt in revenge for the British destroying the French naval fleet in an Algerian port when they refused to scuttle their ships or hand them over to the British ( so the Germans couldn't get their hands on them!) . Their bombing raids on Gibraltar were unsuccessful mainly because they were so astonished and suprised at the ferocity of the anti -aircraft fire the British put up from Gibraltar that many Pilots bottled out and just dropped their bombs in the sea ,turned around and headed back to Africa !

It’s a myth that the inhabitants are all British. It’s about 25% of each Spanish and British. Genoese/Italian are about another 20% and Portuguese and Moroccan account for around 10% each as well. It is a very diverse place.

I was in Gibraltar in the late 80's. Though, not as a civillian, I was in the Army (TA) on exercise. Though it was more of a holiday as we only really did our training at night in the tunnels due to the heat and in the day, we were adventure training (with 2RGJ, who were a great bunch). We did get to see quite a bit and was allowed to cross the border into Spain. There's more pubs per square mile in Gibraltar than we have in anywhere in the UK.

Incredible! 👏

Nice video

During the American Revolution Hanoverian soldiers actually played a crucial role in Gibraltars defence

Malta is independent.... I think it is more likely to go like this than Spanish unless London freak out and scare Gibratltar somehow.

They didn’t give it up, the Royal Marines took it. It is the only Battle Honour on the Regimental Battle Flag of the Royal Marines.

Gibraltar is amazing . It’s so British you feel you are in the UK as soon as you cross the border

Why isn't Alaska part of Canada with which it has a contiguous border and is further away from the rest of the USA than Gibraltar is from the UK? Gibraltar is not part of the UK. It's an overseas territory that has the consent of 96.6% of the population.

I used to drive a truck to Gibraltar and as a Gibraltarian once said “you have to be sadistic to want to ruled by the Spanish”

At this point, Gibraltar has been under British rule far longer than it was under Spain

You left out Menorca ! It was captured alongside Gibraltar, but the French won it back for Spain =)

I am sure you can try to take Gibraltar by force to test UK resolve, if you think this tiny territory is worth having a war in your hand.

Good story... Awesome...🌐🇬🇧❤️

Nice

Surprised "History Matters" didn't make a video on this topic first.

I have been to Gibralter and too be fair the people there consider themselves to British. Even when I crossed the border and asked the Spanish what they thought almost everyone said, they are British...

Spain wanting back Gibraltar is kinda like Morocco wanting back Ceuta and Melilla.

Hi, I can translate your videos?

I've been to Gibraltar several times and surprisingly everyone speaks a adaptation of Andalucian Spanish called Lladito (heavily influenced with latinized English words). And most of the population lives on the edges of the small peninsula.Not much to see there, though you must see it once in a lifetime. Most of the peninsula is barren rock cliffs. Most of the population want to stay part of the U.K. territories due to British tax breaks and subsidies. Most travel back and forth into Spain daily and watch Spanish T.V., radio and such. The best of two worlds, so ofcourse they want to stay under the current status. Having British pounds, which is more than the Euro, makes it even more advantageous. Also I would say that the local Spanish towns also benefit from this arrangement. This video is so uninformed! Sounds like the video maker had never been to Gibraltar and has no idea of what he's talking about. Supposedly a large portion of the population are from Andalucia who fled there during the Napolianic invasion in the early 1800s. The other large portion was immigrant laborers from Malta, Italy and Portugal. Only about a quarter is actually British, who usually are connected to the military and administrative personnel and their families.

Love and lovely really love to you. Gibraltor was Andulusia. After conquest of Tariq Bin Zayed it was called Jablut Tariq. Lastly as Geralter. Means the Mountains of Tariq. Visigothic kingdom and Count Julian betrayed to Roderic

The use of the name Great Britain in this video is used incorrectly. The sovereign country is known as the United Kingdom where as great Britain is a geographical term for the largest island which contains Scotland England and Wales. Mainly mentioning this as it includes Northern Ireland under the name of Great Britain when it shouldn't be as that's on the island of Ireland (but also a part of the United Kingdom.

for practical matters, Gibraltar is like an amusement park for the British in Southern Spain to lure British tourists to visit Southern Spain.

I feel if Spain handed over in a treaty is Sovereign British territory Spanish respect your word

Gibraltar is the size of my neighbourhood, 30 houses do not enter there. But does it has naval importance.

@Knowledgia and what about to do a video about the devolution of Olivença??????

I tapped to know about Gibraltar but ended up discovering Andorra 😅

Even the Spanish population of Gibraltar want it to remain British.

It’s also worth noting that the population is not exclusively of British origin, yes some are, but there’s also Italians, Maltans, Arabs, a variety of people & yes they chose to stay part of the UK not Spain!

Gibraltar is British Gibraltarian. We have our own political leadership and democratically elected government. Under Gibraltar constitution, we are a self governing overseas territory, with exception on matters of Defence and foreign affairs.

In my opinion, Gibraltar is one of the best places to visit in iberia, you can go visit the rock, I can go and see my family and a lot more

The chances of the UK returning Gilbraltar to Spain are around the same as Spain returning Olivença to Portugal. Although the Portuguese claim is a lot stronger, neither will happen... So don't cry about it Spain and forget it.

Do a Video about azores and Portugal

Last time I was in "Gib" it seemed that many of the population hailed from North Africa, just over the straights, and more than happy to be there.

I say if the Gibraltans want their homeland to remain with Britain then that should be honored.

Spain and UK are about to sign an agreement that will effectively make Gibraltar Spanish territory again.

Treaty of Utrecht I think where they signed it over to the brits in perpetuity.

If you see how successful British-governed lands generally became, & how unsuccessful Spanish ones did, it’s another good reason.

The first time I've seen France and England described as being part of the Iberian Peninsula. Britain has water on 4 sides, making it an island. It's included in their definition, but they leave out most of the Emerald Isle. WTF?

Be careful what you give away in perpetuity is the moral of this story.

Can't say I have ever given Gibraltar much thought, but after watching this video, I have a newfound respect for the Gibraltians; they sound like they are more patriotic with a love of being British and independent than too many wet lettuces here in the UK who would gladly sign our nation over to the EU to be dictated to.

Why do you make your bubble captions so small that they are unreadable, even on a large TV screen?

Spain retains 2 exclaves on Moroccan soil, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander!

8:09 That is the result of the 2016 EU referendum within Gibraltar not the vote on sovereignty which was in 1967 and 2002

It is a pity the people of Hong Kong and Macau were not consulted by plebiscite if they wanted to stay with the UK and Portugal or be part of Red China, or be independent.

Did the people of Hong Kong get to vote before being handed back to China?

A shame you didn't go over the great siege of Gibraltar. It would have been worth explaining the last time Spain used force to retake it.

What an Epic piece of Land & Rock. It’s stunning as well. U.K Never give this one up 👈🇬🇧 🇬🇧🇬🇧

Interesting

3:18, Spain didn't lose Florida in the aftermath of American Revolutionary War. Spain, along with USA, were the winner in American Revolutionary War, with England, French, and Dutch as the losers. Spain gained Minorca from that war, and there was a sense of rejuvenation in Spain navy after a century under England's navy shadow. The territory of Florida was sold some three decades later to USA, it was not lost during that war.

Great Britain does not include Northern Ireland. The United Kingdom includes Northern Ireland, as well as the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.

Next you should do "Why Portugal didn't take back Olivença"

Why does Spain have land in Morocco? Ceuta and Melilla anyone..?

Where does the name Gibraltar originate from? Good Work!

The War of the Spanish Succession is a fight between Hasburgs and Bourbons for the Spanish Empire as they both had legitimate claims to the territory. This video paints a biased views towards the British of the events. Wikepedia's accounts of the events paint a picture closer to the truth. There were many Spaniards in nowadays mainland Spain who supported the Hasburgs´ cause.

Big respect from Morocco ❤️❤️❤️🌹🌹💯💯

A quick note about the referendum results - you posted "Remain as a British Territory or Rejoin Spain". You should've posted Remain in the EU or Leave, as it's misleading. Fairly good video nevertheless.

That video went on about 8 minutes longer than necessary.

What of Spain's control of Ceuta and Melilla? The argument is no different to that of Morocco's claim, and many have drawn comparison. I would like you to tackle that one next Knowledgia.

I've never heard Great Britain being referred to as 'The Ladder'

Geographic location does not automatically confer ownership.

When I was briefly a teaching assistant in Sweden, Gunnar, the head of the English department, delighted in setting translation tests for the students. One sentence always came up: Det brittiska lejonet bevakar ingången till medelhavet. (The British lion guards the entrance to the Mediterranean.) I miss old Gunnar Hammarlund. A great Anglophile.

I would say more than feeling British, they would just not receive the same benefits from the Spanish government

and it's probaly best if the gate keeper to the mediterranean is the Royal Navy. Europe's largest navy.

Gibraltar is a British protectorate. It remains so on the basis that the Gibraltarians want it. If they vote to join Spain it will happen.

3:10 Uh, no. Spain didn't lose Florida to Britain during the American Revolution; they had lost it after the Seven Years War in 1763 (the British had seized Havana, and Spain had to give up Florida to get it back). Spain actually reconquered most of Florida (basically all of it outside of St Augustine in fact) during the American Revolution, and were able to reclaim the whole of it in the treaty that ended the war. By the way, if you ever want to win a bet, ask someone what was the biggest battle of the American Revolution. Virtually no one is going to correctly say "the Siege of Gibraltar".

It is a bit rich for Spain to want Gibraltar back when Spain retains more than one enclave within Morocco.

The Spanish fail to remember that two very small parts of Morocco are held by the Spanish government so it is one rule for them and none for anyone else.

When a territory has been part of a certain country long enough that in many ways they are indistinguishable then it's de jure that country

Funny how Spain wants Gibraltar but won’t give back lands to Morocco.

You fail to identify (or tell) the real reasons for those referendum results. The first one is primarily because of the political system (Britain was a democracy and Spain a dictatorship), which is something similar to the main sentiment in Hong Kong over the years. The last one (not the brexit one) demonstrate the privileges given to Gibraltar in matters of fiscality (basically is a gigantic tax heaven and also a hub for illegal trafficking of everything you can imagine, maiking it a criminal hub ofthe region). Of course their citicens want to remain british when they have such advantage, maximised when you have in count that the region around is economically depresed (in most part because of that fiscal advantages). If you ever go to Gibraltar you will see that they speak perfect spanish, with andalusian accent of couse; and that thousands of spanish from the regions around cross the frontier everyday to go to work there (because all the businnes are there). This makes an vicious circle of economic disparity and security issues, which of course makes people angry; and appart from patriotic and historical reasons, we have to take in count that gibraltarian authorities have expanded their territory illegally for a lot of time just in front of our faces (In fact acording to the treaty The Rock doesnt have rights to maritime and air space). In conclusion: they are british for convenience (apart from yes, have been "british" for over 200 years).

Always found it weird how much Spain complains about Gibraltar yet has no issues holding on to its weird little enclaves in Morocco.