Referendum or popular consultation
Gibraltar sovereignty referendum, 2002
Gibraltarians overwhelmingly rejected a proposal for joint UK-Spain sovereignty explored in bilateral talks.
What happened
Following UK-Spain talks between 1997 and 2002 exploring temporary joint sovereignty, the Gibraltar Government called a referendum asking: "Do you approve of the principle that Britain and Spain should share sovereignty over Gibraltar?"[1][2]
On 7 November 2002, 17,900 votes (98.97%) rejected joint sovereignty against 187 votes (1.03%) in favour, on a turnout of 87.9%.[3] The UK Government did not recognise the referendum's legitimacy, with Foreign Secretary Jack Straw calling it "eccentric," while the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee criticised Straw for having agreed to explore joint sovereignty against Gibraltarian wishes.[4] Spain's Foreign Minister called the vote "illegal".[5]
Sources for this page
Each number marks a specific claim. Notes give the source, its locator and how it relates to the claim.
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1.
Claim: Between 1997 and 2002, the UK and Spain held talks exploring temporary joint sovereignty over Gibraltar.
- 2002 Gibraltar sovereignty referendum (Wikipedia) link, Background section. Source record
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2.
Claim: The 2002 referendum, called by the Gibraltar Government in response to the UK-Spain talks, asked: "Do you approve of the principle that Britain and Spain should share sovereignty over Gibraltar?"
- 2002 Gibraltar sovereignty referendum (Wikipedia) link, Question section. Source record
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3.
Claim: On 7 November 2002, 17,900 votes (98.97%) rejected joint sovereignty against 187 votes (1.03%) in favour, on a turnout of 87.9% of the 20,678 registered voters.
- 2002 Gibraltar sovereignty referendum (Wikipedia) link, Results section. Source record
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4.
Claim: The UK Government did not recognise the 2002 referendum's legitimacy; Foreign Secretary Jack Straw described it as "eccentric" and the Foreign Office said it would not recognise the result, though the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee criticised Straw for having agreed to explore joint sovereignty when it was unacceptable to Gibraltarians.
- 2002 Gibraltar sovereignty referendum (Wikipedia) link, UK Government reaction section. Source record
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5.
Claim: Spain's Foreign Minister, Ana Palacio, called the 2002 referendum "illegal" and contrary to UN resolutions. Attributed to Ana Palacio, Spanish Foreign Minister
- 2002 Gibraltar sovereignty referendum (Wikipedia) link, Spanish reaction section. Source record