Politics of Gibraltar
The British Government, however, is responsible for defence and external affairs but Gibraltar has full internal self-government under its 2006 Constitution.
The government of Spain continues with an irredentist territorial claim to Gibraltar, which was ceded in perpetuity to the British Crown in 1713 by Article X of the Treaty of Utrecht.
"[2] As an overseas territory of Britain, the head of state is King Charles III, who is represented by the Governor of Gibraltar.
King Charles III is represented by the governor and commander-in-chief, presently Lieutenant General Sir Ben Bathurst (sworn in June 2024).
Writing to the Spanish Foreign Minister, Jack Straw stated: After several months of political wrangling, the Gibraltar Government published the draft Constitution Order, which includes the existing preamble promising that there would be no transfer of sovereignty against the wishes of the Gibraltarians and a new addition explaining the status.
[12] This would be a similar status to France's overseas departments and to Spain's North African enclaves, Ceuta and Melilla, claimed by Morocco.
[13] However, the British Foreign Office rejected the idea in 1976, along with independence, on the grounds that any further constitutional reform or decolonisation would have to take into account the so-called "Spanish dimension".
[14] Similarly, this has also been opposed by governments in Gibraltar itself; in its election manifesto in 2003, the Gibraltar Social Democrats argued that integration would "necessarily involve the loss of a significant degree of this vital self-government" and "would simply hand power over our vital affairs (and therefore our ability to survive) to people in London.
"[15] While there is still attachment to the idea of Gibraltar being British, some, like leader of the Liberal Party, Joseph Garcia, see the Rock's future as being within a larger 'Europe of the Regions', rather than as part of one nation state or another.
[19] Although the co-principality of Andorra, in which the president of France and the bishop of Urgell are joint heads of state, has been suggested as a model for Gibraltar, in 2010, its then chief minister, Peter Caruana, argued that this was not a case of joint sovereignty between Spain and France, as under Andorra's 1993 Constitution, neither country exercised sovereignty over the Principality.
The effective stalemate has led Peter Caruana to conclude that attending future meetings of the Committee of 24 is a pointless exercise.
Neither the United Kingdom nor Spain seem keen to test the legal status of Article X of the Treaty of Utrecht in court.
The remaining parts of the treaty that regulated such things as the slave trade, and the transfer of Menorca to the British, have become obsolete.
It also argues that the principle of territorial integrity, not self-determination applies, drawing parallels with the British handover of Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China in 1997.
[28] The Gibraltarian government has asked the UN Committee of 24 to refer the issues to the International Court of Justice for an advisory opinion, but Spain has lobbied against this.
In a letter to the United Nations describing this, the British Foreign Secretary stated that "I do not think that this description would apply to any relationship based on colonialism.
Concerns of: air and water quality, pollution, preservation of our green areas, traffic, need for renewable energy, litter/recycling and climate change have been the focus of many ESG campaigns.
[32] In 1997 it organised a march attended by 10,000 people campaigning for Spanish recognition of Gibraltarians' rights within the EU for the support of the new British Labour Government in this matter.
[35] The same year, in concert with the Self-Determination for Gibraltar Group, the VOGG organised a demonstration attended by an estimated 10,000 people.
They aim for Gibraltar to attain a state of devolved integration similar to that pertaining in Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland.
