Residents of Gibraltar smarting at missing out on gaining city status in a recent competition have been handed an unexpected surprise: it has been one for the last 180 years.
Gibraltar was among 39 places across the UK and British overseas territories vying to win city status as part of the Queen’s platinum jubilee celebrations in a competition last year, up against sites ranging from Alcester to Wrexham, via the Cayman Islands.
Unfortunately for Gibraltarians, they were unsuccessful in their attempt – or so they thought. In publishing a fresh record of the 81 places that have so far achieved the special status, including the eight new designations awarded as part of the competition – and through researching the National Archives – the government learned that Queen Victoria had actually awarded Gibraltar city status in 1842, but it was omitted from the official list of recognised cities.
Bangor, Colchester, Doncaster, Dunfermline, Milton Keynes and Wrexham were all awarded city status through the competition, along with Douglas on the Isle of Man and Stanley in the Falkand Islands.
Boris Johnson declared it “excellent” to see Gibraltar’s reaffirmation as a city, describing it as a “huge accolade” to its “rich history and dynamism”.
Traditionally, city status was associated with having an Anglican cathedral, but these days the monarch can choose to elevate towns based on the advice of the government. The smallest recognised city in the UK is St David’s in Wales, which boasts a population of 1,841.
