Disputed Status of Gibraltar - Military Importance

Military Importance

Military control of the Strait of Gibraltar has historically been the most important use of Gibraltar, allowing Britain to defend its trade lanes to the East. The British admiral Lord Fisher stated that Gibraltar was one of the five keys that locked the world, together with Dover, Alexandria, Cape of Good Hope and Singapore, all of which were once controlled by Britain. It has been useful for the UK to maintain its position as world power.

Its military relevance has reduced with the end of the Cold War, but it is still an important position as more than one quarter of the global maritime traffic transits through the strait every year. Controlling the strait is of vital importance to NATO. The task of controlling the strait has been traditionally assigned by NATO to the UK, but the recent advances that Spain has made in its armed forces and the bases Spain has in the zone have made NATO reconsider this. However, the tense relations that Spain had with the American administration under George W. Bush and the special friendship of the US with the UK have caused NATO to take a more favourable position towards the UK and Morocco for control of the strait.

For Spain, the military aspect of Gibraltar is not very important apart from denying advantages to the UK, as it has other more spacious bases in Algeciras, Tarifa, Cadiz or Rota to control the strait. Its importance to Spain derives mostly from claims of national integrity and the economic influence Gibraltar holds as a tax haven.