Happy National Day!

22nd Aug 2026

As Summer starts to dwindle down with a definite nip in the air, we welcome the approach of our annual festivities – National Day. This very important day is celebrated on the 10th of September every year since 1992, marking the occasion of a turning point in Gibraltar’s history. In 1967 Britain approved Gibraltar’s right to hold a referendum, and on the 10th of September that year Gibraltarians proudly voiced their wishes. Unsurprisingly, there was an overwhelming response – 99.64% in favour of remaining British as opposed to a paltry 0.36% in favour of Spanish sovereignty!

It has been a journey full of hardship due to the constant bullying inflicted by Spain upon Gibraltar. For Spain, recovering the Rock of Gibraltar became an obsession. The fact that 30,000 people, living happily under the British flag, were horrified at the idea of losing their identity, their home, didn’t seem to bother the Spanish government.

Finally, on the 08th of June 1969, after much bad feeling between Gibraltar and Spain since the Referendum was held, General Franco ordered the complete closure of the frontier. Telephone communications were severed therefore isolating Gibraltar and consequently separating families. My mother lost contact with her own mother, sister and brothers who lived across the border in La Linea. Even the oxygen for the hospital was not allowed through, and to add insult to injury, supposedly reputable newsreaders on Spanish national television would broadcast vicious and false propaganda about our way of life.

They would announce to Spain, and any other country that might be watching, that Gibraltarians lived in caves and that our only source of food was our beloved Barbary Ape! Needless to say, some older people were so shocked that they became sick, even with heart attacks. In consequence, citizens were urged not to watch or listen to Spanish news.

Although things did change when Franco died and Spain became a democratic country, there was (and still is to a degree) a certain animosity between Gibraltar and Spain. From time to time we are bombarded with the very old and tiresome phrase “Gibraltar es Espanol!”. Even young kids who never experienced any of the earlier trauma, also chant the annoying jibe.
The truth is that the bullying has never stopped. It has been going on relentlessly for almost seven decades, or maybe even more. And all because they unwaveringly believe that they are entitled to this tiny piece of limestone rock on the southernmost tip of the Iberian Peninsula. Gibraltar produces nothing. We have no crops or farms. We depend entirely on tourism and commerce. Our home is a mere 3 miles long compared to Spain’s 395,000 square miles! Why subject our little town to endless torment when we have absolutely nothing to offer? It beggars belief!

The icing on the cake has been the Gibraltar-EU Treaty – the worst deal ever made in history. After so many years of fighting to keep our identity, our border has sadly been removed. And despite not being an EU member, Schengen-style rules apply to us. Anyone and their grandmother, passport or not, can just saunter into Gibraltar at will. Unfortunately, this makes it very unsafe for us, especially as we are still very much a military base. The risks involved are undeniable.

Already, less than two months after the deal was put in place, there have been various problems. Initially, marking the shape of things to come, the day the border was removed, a huge crowd of Spanish citizens manifested on their side, wearing Spanish flags as capes and chanting “Gibraltar es Espanol”. Once again, we were being taunted and bullied. A few weeks later, when Spain won the World Cup, they repeated the affair. And because they are now powerless to create massive queues at the border like they used to, they have resorted to an attack on our commerce. Our products for supermarkets and other establishments take forever to come into Gibraltar. The trucks are, apparently, being held up at Algeciras for “checking”. You might find Morrisons with an entire empty bread aisle. They even put up a notice once explaining the situation.

In conclusion, this deal benefits Spain alone. We have been well and truly cheated. If anything, the situation in Gibraltar has woefully declined.

So, this year, we naturally regard National Day with some trepidation as we look at an uncertain future for the Rock of Gibraltar. Let’s hope that as in “It’s a Wonderful Life”, things will turn out right for us in the end.


"Gibraltar stands on the buried history we shall never know.
It saw the Phoenicians arrive to worship a God that would be forgotten.
It saw Rome conquer and then retreat back into the Iberian horizon.
It was named and adorned with a castle under Muslim rule
up until the Spanish ceded it to the British 300 years ago.
Gibraltar’s people have lived in the safe shadow of the Crown’s cannons since then.
Infused with the Rock’s entire patchwork tale of origin, they live proud.
Proud, however, as they walk on British soil and breathe British air.
This haven is as such because of its uniqueness, rippling on the edge of the Atlantic and mouth to the Mediterranean.
Should this anomaly be tampered with, it shall shatter like a porcelain ornament.
It must remain as it is."

by Ruben Gonzalez-Grima