Government have announced that the exhibition on the closure of the border by Spain, which is currently on display at the John Mackintosh Hall, will be open on Saturday 8th June 2019 from 10:00am to 2:00pm.

Saturday marks exactly 50 years to the day since the border gates were closed by Spain on 8th June 1969.

Organised by the Gibraltar National Archives with the Office of the Deputy Chief Minister, the exhibition was officially opened to the public on Monday 3rd June. Divided into eight sections across three rooms, the exhibition features over two hundred panels, oral history videos documenting memories of the closure and radio recordings from the time. A key historic item, deliberately on display at the entrance to the John Mackintosh Hall, are the original Spanish frontier gates.

Deputy Chief Minister Dr Joseph Garcia said: ‘It is extremely fitting that 50 years to the day since Spain slammed shut the border gates, Gibraltar will mark the anniversary with an open, free public exhibition. The exhibition itself is an important work of History that for the first time brings together diverse sources of information to provide a clear and accurate picture of the political build-up to the closure and both the immediate and long-term political, social, cultural and economic impacts this had on Gibraltar and its people. The closure of the border and the years that followed were key to the solidifying of the distinct Gibraltarian identity that we know today. I strongly encourage the public to visit the exhibition so that older generations can remember and younger generations can understand this important part of our history.’