A talk by Peter Kingdon Booker

Long the target for a takeover by the Spanish state, Gibraltar has now been under British administration for 312 years, in fact since 1704. This story is about the importance attached to The Rock over the centuries by the Moors, the Spanish and principally by the British. It may not be widely known that Gibraltar has suffered long and exhausting sieges over the years by both land and sea, and that it has survived because of the incompetence of the attackers as much as the determination of the defenders. Peter will examine the case for the Spanish claim to the territory, its moral weight in view of the continuing Spanish occupation of Moroccan and Portuguese territory. He will consider the view, more and more commonly expressed, that since Britain no longer has a strategic interest in Gibraltar, its status should be reviewed. And he will also cover the important but hidden role played by Portuguese in the history of The Rock.