Brexit: Things you need to know about Gibraltar

World
Europe

01:02

The final Brexit deal went through a series of twists and turns after it got final approval from EU leaders. One of them has been the dispute with Spain over the six-square-kilometer peninsula, Gibraltar. The two countries have been at loggerheads over the peninsula for three centuries.

Gibraltar is at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic Ocean. It's just 20 kilometers from the northern coast of Africa.

Gibraltar has been controlled by Britain since 1713, when Spain was forced to cede it under the Treaty of Utrecht. But Spain continues to claim sovereignty over the peninsula.

People walk in Grand Casemates square in front of the Rock in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar, November 24, 2018. /VCG Photo

Thousands of Gibraltarians commute north across the border into Spain to work each day. However, when it comes to choosing between the UK and Spain, they voted overwhelmingly for Gibraltar to remain a British Overseas Territory in 1967 and 2002.

In the 2016 Brexit referendum, 96 percent of voters in Gibraltar backed staying in the EU. With the United Kingdom set to leave the bloc, the Spanish government proposed joint sovereignty to save the peninsula's EU status. But that idea has failed to win much support in Gibraltar.

(Cover: The Rock of the British overseas territory of Gibraltar, historically claimed by Spain, is seen from La Atunara beach in the Spanish city of La Linea de la Concepcion, November 25, 2018. /VCG Photo)

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