No country would have put up with what we have, in order to remain British
The Franco government took two months to reject the British proposals. That should have been a defining moment, when London should have said that the fact that Spain didn’t want to enter into this, was because Spain did not believe that they could win; and therefore London should have put an end to Spanish harassment.
Politically Spain has been very hostile. Dr. Joseph Garcia, Deputy Chief Minister, writes in his Introduction of his book “Gibraltar the making of a people;” that in 1704, when the Rock fell to an Anglo-Spanish succession, almost all its approximately 4000 Spanish inhabitants left for the neighbouring parts of Spain. Immigration from other Mediterranean regions took place; with incomers from Malta, Genoa and Portugal, amongst others, settling on the Rock. Eight years later, a count of civilians able to bear arms was taken, and this revealed that 45 were English, 96 were Spaniards and above all, 169 were Genoese. This Genoese element, supplied a vital contribution to what was to make a Gibraltarian.
Politically Spain has been very hostile. Dr. Joseph Garcia, Deputy Chief Minister, writes in his Introduction of his book “Gibraltar the making of a people;” that in 1704, when the Rock fell to an Anglo-Spanish succession, almost all its approximately 4000 Spanish inhabitants left for the neighbouring parts of Spain. Immigration from other Mediterranean regions took place; with incomers from Malta, Genoa and Portugal, amongst others, settling on the Rock. Eight years later, a count of civilians able to bear arms was taken, and this revealed that 45 were English, 96 were Spaniards and above all, 169 were Genoese. This Genoese element, supplied a vital contribution to what was to make a Gibraltarian.
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29-11-21 PANORAMAdailyGIBRALTAR
