Spanish Gibraltarians

The term Spanish Gibraltarians variously refers to people of Spanish ethnicity associated with British overseas territory of Gibraltar. The expression does not have any legal meaning, as Gibraltarian people are by definition British Citizens. Nevertheless, the use of this term is controversial, particularly in Gibraltar, where it can be seen as a way of legitimising the .
History
The term has been used to describe those 4,000 inhabitants of Gibraltar who left the town of Gibraltar during the British conquest of this town from Spain, in 1704 - the vast majority of Gibraltar's population at that time.
Their descendants may be found mainly in Gibraltar's neighbouring Spanish towns of San Roque and La Línea de la Concepción as well as the rest of the Campo de Gibraltar. They may also be found in Gibraltar probably due to later immigration from these Spanish towns back into Gibraltar, as well as intermarriage between modern-day Gibraltarians and Spaniards. Most of the descendants of these former inhabitants do not form any tight community and are now dispersed throughout the rest of Andalusia. However, the memory of their origins is maintained particularly in San Roque, where around 90 families originating in Gibraltar have founded an association called Heirs of Gibraltar (). This association is also widely suspected in Gibraltar of being part of a wider political campaign related to the Anglo-Spanish dispute over Gibraltar.
Spanish Gibraltarians also refers to the small number of Gibraltarians who decided to stay on the territory after British occupation as well as those people from Spain and their descendants who immigrated into the territory during the 18th, 19th and 20th century. In 1816, for example, Spaniards still constituted 28% of the total population of Gibraltar (11,401). Nevertheless, by 1840 the number of Spanish nationals resident on The Rock was drastically reduced to 14% of the total, largely due to Governor Wooford (1838-1842) who reduced the number of residence permits granted to foreigners. This, together with the cheaper accommodation available in the adjacent town of La Línea de la Concepción, led to a large number of Gibraltarians relocating to this town. However, immigration from Spain and intermarriage with Spaniards from neighbouring towns (particularly among the working class) continued until the Spanish dictator General Franco closed the frontier with Gibraltar in 1969. These historical population movements and family ties between Gibraltar and the Campo would explain some similarities between the Andalusian Spanish spoken on both sides of the frontier.
Many Gibraltarians such as fashion designer John Galliano, are the product of intermarriage between a Spanish national and a Gibraltarian. Indeed, one of the worst ways in which the closure of the frontier by Franco affected Gibraltarians was by cutting them off from their relatives in Spain. Throughout the period of the embargo, Gibraltarians could be seen every night climbing onto the fence which divided Spain and Gibraltar and shouting as the only way of communicating with their families on the other side.
The term Spanish Gibraltarian has also been used (and arguably incorrectly), in the UK, to refer to those Gibraltarians who commonly speak Spanish or Llanito, irrespective of nationality and ethnic origin.
The earliest documented use of this term was made by Colonel Thomsett of the RAMC, who was in Gibraltar in 1890, and classified Gibraltarians as either "those who had been to London" and spoke English, and "Spanish Gibraltarians", those who could hardly muster a few words in English. This at a time when only around 3% of Gibraltarians had been to the United Kingdom. Nevertheless, considering the political hostility which developed in the latter half of the 20th century between the Spanish state and the territory, this term has lost much of its meaning nowadays and could even be deemed politically incorrect to most Gibraltarians.

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