FROM CARTOGRAPHY TO DIPLOMACY. STRATEGIES AROUND GIBRALTAR DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR

The aim of this paper is to analyse the role of Gibraltar during the Spanish Civil War and World War 2. To that end, it begins with the cartographic information that Germans had about the Rock for a hypothetical invasion. The strategic enclave had already played a key role throughout the Spanish Civil War, but the outbreak of the world war highlighted its geographical importance in terms of control of the seas and world trade routes between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. Due to its geographical position, Gibraltar was located at the crossroads of multiple national and international interests. Under such circumstances, official government declarations differed greatly from unspoken realities: under Spanish neutrality lay an implicit support for the allies blocking a possible German invasion of the Rock. In fact, that was the position the allied powers expected from Francoist Spain.