The blockade of Gibraltar

Witness History

BBC

History, Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.4 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 17 December 2020

⏱️ 11 minutes

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Summary

In December 1982, Spain reopened its border with Gibraltar after a 13-year blockade of the disputed British territory. The border was closed by the dictator General Franco and led to the separation of families as well as a hardening of Gibraltarian attitudes towards Spain. It was only reopened when the new democratic government in Madrid wanted to join the European Union. Simon Watts talks to Tito Vallejo Smith, a retired defence worker and historian.

PHOTO: Gibraltarian and Spanish police officers side-by-side in the 1980s (Getty Images)

Transcript

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0:00.0	Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know.
0:04.7	My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds.
0:08.5	As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable experts and genuinely engaging voices.
0:18.0	What you may not know is that the BBC makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars,
0:24.6	poltergeist, cricket, and conspiracy theories and that's just a few examples.
0:29.7	If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected, find your next podcast over at BBC Sounds.
0:40.0	Hello and thank you for downloading witness history from the BBC World Service with me Simon
0:47.0	Watts.
0:48.0	Today we're going back to 1982 when Spain began to lift a blockade of the British Territory of Gibraltar
0:55.2	which had lasted for more than a decade.
0:57.6	I've been speaking to a Gibraltarian historian about the long-running dispute
1:02.3	over a rocky headland at the foot of Spain
1:05.6	and how it divided many families.
1:07.6	Crowds flock to both sides of the border determined to witness an historic occasion. By order of the government in
1:14.9	Madrid there was no ceremony. At midnight an official duly arrived to
1:19.2	unlock the gate shut for over 13 years. On the 15th of December 1982, Spanish officials opened a fence which had cut off the people on the rock of Gibraltar since 1969.
1:32.0	Among them was Tito Baejevo Smith. Gibraltar since 1969.
1:33.0	Among them was Tito Bayhoc Smith.
1:35.6	Everybody was waiting on both sides.
1:37.5	About a thousand people on each side with flags.
1:40.9	It was happiness.
1:42.2	The first Gibraltarian in the queue for Spain waited with some impatience.
	...

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