Gibraltar

Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, guarding the strait that connects The Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea. It hosts a British military garrison including a Royal Navy base, making it a staging point for UK naval operations into the Mediterranean and beyond. In May 2026, RFA Lyme Bay and the autonomous mine-clearance force including RNMB Ariadne departed Gibraltar toward a potential mine-countermeasures mission in the Strait of Hormuz, marking Gibraltar's role as the operational departure point for the Royal Navy's first crewless minehunter deployment.

Gibraltar's strategic value derives from the Strait of Gibraltar itself, the 14-kilometre chokepoint through which roughly 20 per cent of global seaborne trade passes. The Royal Navy Base Gibraltar provides fuel, maintenance, and crew support for vessels transiting between The Atlantic and Mediterranean. Its proximity to the Suez Canal route via the Red Sea makes it the natural forward base for Royal Navy missions eastward.

Gibraltar has a population of approximately 34,000 and returned a 99.99 per cent vote to remain British in a 1967 referendum and 98.5 per cent in 2002. It is a point of ongoing diplomatic tension with Spain, which claims sovereignty over the territory.