What will happen to Gibraltar, post-Brexit? In 1713, by the Treaty of Utrecht, the Spanish ceded the sovereignty of Gibraltar, nicknamed “the Rock”, to the British Crown, and it has remained a British territory ever since. Why did the Spanish cede sovereignty? It was all to do with the incestuous royal families of Europe. Charles II of Spain, who had died childless, had named Philip, grandson of French King Louis XIV, to be his successor. The other powers of Europe would have none of this, worrying that Philip (now Philip V of Spain) would eventually combine the powers of France and Spain. They went to war, trying to install another candidate on the Spanish throne.
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