Gibraltar sovereignty referendum, 1967

A sovereignty referendum was held in Gibraltar on 10 September 1967, in which Gibraltarian voters were asked whether they wished to either pass under Spanish sovereignty, with Gibraltarians keeping their British citizenship and a special status for Gibraltar within Spain; or remain under British sovereignty, with institutions of self-government.

Upon the request of the of the United Nations General Assembly (approved on 16 December 1965), the governments of Spain and the United Kingdom started formal talks on Gibraltar during 1966. On 18 May 1966, the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Fernando Castiella made a formal proposal to the UK Government comprising three clauses:

The Spanish offer had little chance of being accepted by Gibraltarians. At that time, the Spanish claim was being made by the Francoist dictatorship which had arisen from a bloody civil war which did not allow its own citizens the civil liberties that the British government guaranteed to the Gibraltarians. Furthermore, the Spanish economy, though beginning to grow, was still very backward (especially compared to the living standard the Gibraltarians had achieved), while at the same time working-class people across the frontier were living in a state of great poverty. Economic considerations aside, the idea of Spain participating in any way the sovereignty or government of The Rock was unacceptable to nearly all Gibraltarians.

The options presented to Gibraltarians were:

A new constitution was passed in 1969. Gibraltar National Day has been celebrated annually on 10 September since 1992 to commemorate Gibraltar's first sovereignty referendum of 1967.

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