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Date Published: 29/08/2022

ARCHIVED - Gibraltar granted UK city status after 180-year delay

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Despite this, tensions remain high between Gibraltar and the UK as post-Brexit issues drag on

<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - Gibraltar granted UK city status after 180-year delay

The British overseas territory of Gibraltar has at last been given the right to call itself a city, 180 years after Queen Victoria first granted it this status back in 1842. As part of this year's Platinum Jubilee, authorities on the Rock applied to become a city, but it was discovered that this wasn’t necessary since the honour had already ben granted.

The city status has now been officially reaffirmed, a move which Boris Johnson has described as a "huge accolade" celebrating Gibraltar's "rich history and dynamism".

The Rock was ceded to the United Kingdom back in 1713 under a peace treaty signed following the War of the Spanish Succession, but relations between Gibraltar and Britain have been strained since the 2016 referendum, when 95% of its population voted to remain within the EU.

And while becoming a city has few actual material benefits, it is certainly a source of pride for residents.

Gibraltar is one of only five cities outside of the UK to be recognised, joined by Hamilton in Bermuda, Jamestown in Saint Helena, Douglas on the Isle of Man and Stanley in the Falklands Islands.

Cabinet Office Minister Kit Malthouse said: "The cities in this list are incredibly rich with history and culture, and the local people of those areas are rightly very proud to see their city's significance put to paper.

"I'm hopeful people based in these places, particularly the new cities, can reap the benefits of their home's increased global standing and that it will attract more inward investment for local businesses."

Despite the newly approved city status, tensions remain high over Brexit issues regarding the control of the Gibraltar border, with London continually accusing Spain of undermining its "sovereignty" over the Rock.

At the beginning of the summer, Spain's acting Foreign Minister, José Manuel García-Margallo, insisted that Spain is open to "agreements with the United Kingdom that allow for regional cooperation schemes for the direct benefit of the inhabitants on both sides of the fence under the idea of shared prosperity".

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