The result of the Gibraltar referendum was an overwhelming vote by its inhabitants to retain their links with Britain. Of the 12,762 Gibraltarians qualified to vote, no fewer than 12,138 voted to remain with Britain. Only 44 opted for the transfer of the Rock to Spanish sovereignty.

This result was in no sense a surprise. In every way in their power the Gibraltarians have been advertising their deep attachment to Britain ever since the holding of the referendum was first announced. There is even a strong body of opinion in Gibraltar which advocates the indissoluble integration of the Rock with Britain.

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The voting slips were made out in Spanish and English, and voters had the choice of voting “to pass under Spanish, sovereignty in accordance with the terms proposed by the Spanish Government on May 18, 1966,” or “voluntarily to retain their link with the United Kingdom, with democratic local institutions and with the United Kingdom retaining its present responsibilities.”

The Gibraltarian authorities have been punctilious in ensuring that no pressure should be brought to bear on voters. Voting slips have not been numbered, so that there should be no possibility of tracing the voting intentions of individuals.

The Chief Minister of Gibraltar, Sir Joshua Hassan, said the referendum was “the first opportunity for Gibraltarians to express in a free and democratic way where their interests lie.”

This was an indirect reference to the United Nations recommendations, that, while the “decolonisation” of the Rock should be carried out, the solution of the Gibraltar problem should be in the interests of its inhabitants.

Enthusiasm

During the voting there was much pro-British enthusiasm, in the shape of red, white and blue emblems. Union Jacks decorated and garlanded cars, and slogans painted up on the walls of buildings. No untoward incidents were reported.

The only possible cause of concern in Gibraltar has been the action of the Spanish authorities in mooring buoys in the Bay of Gibraltar, and in the Mediterranean to the east of the Rock. In the bay the buoys appear to be moored along what Spain may consider to be the demarcation line between her waters and those of the Rock.

The purpose of this is obscure. It may have been done to prevent British and Gibraltarian ships from anchoring in Spanish waters. Or it may be the beginning of some attempt to hamper the movement of shipping in and out of Gibraltar’s harbour.

It is significant that the Spanish press has recently been declaiming against the use of Gibraltar’s harbour by ships of the British Navy.

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Team’s report

The polling stations have been toured by a four-man team of Commonwealth observers which is producing a report on the referendum. This will doubtless be forwarded to the United Nations, which did not accept the invitation to send its own team of observers, and also to Spain.

The first task of the British Government after the referendum will be to decide whether Anglo-Spanish talks on the Rock, which were broken off in April, should be resumed, and when talks should take place between Britain and Gibraltar on the form that the link between the two should take in the future.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A Barbary Macaque monkey on the Rock of Gibraltar, 2007.

Photograph: Hugh Routledge / Rex Features