The United Kingdom grants Gibraltar the status of “city”

by time news

The United Kingdom has granted Gibraltar the “city” status, 180 years after it was first awarded by Queen Victoria.

As reported on Monday by the BBC television networkearlier this year the colony authorities requested that Gibraltar be officially granted this recognition as part of Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee, her 70 years on the throne.

As researchers reviewed the National Archivesfound that Gibraltar had already been designated as a city for the first time in 1842, during the reign of Queen Victoria although this fact was omitted, for unknown reasons, during all these years.

In this way, the Rock now sees its status reaffirmed, which means an “enormous recognition”, as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson pointed out to the aforementioned channel in the “rich history” of the Rock.

During the past celebrations for the Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II, 39 places formally applied to adopt city status, something that they obtained among others Doncaster, Bangor or Dunfermline.

According to this, Gibraltar is now one of only 5 places outside the UK recognized in this way, in addition to Hamilton, in Bermuda, Jamestown, in Saint Helena, Douglas, in the Isle of Man and Stanley, in the Falkland Islands.

This status of “city” (city, in English) is associated with the fact of having a cathedral, university or a large population, although there are no official rules for its concession, and it is granted by the British Queen, on the advice of the Government.

Becoming a City does not bring economic benefits, although, according to the BBC, it provides a boost to the communities of the place by locating it on the map.

The Secretary of State for the Cabinet Office, Kit Malthouse, told the BBC that “thehe cities included in this list are incredibly rich in history and culture, and their residents are rightly very proud to see their cities’ relevance put on paper.”

The Rock has been British territory since 1713, when the Treaty of Utrecht and was ceded to this country after the War of the Spanish Succession.

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