The Lines of Contravallation of Gibraltar (Spanish: Línea de Contravalación de Gibraltar or Línea de Gibraltar), known in English as the "Spanish Lines", were a set of fortifications built by the Spanish across the northern part of the isthmus linking Spain with Gibraltar. They later gave their name to the Spanish town of La Línea de la Concepción. The Lines were constructed after 1730 to establish a defensive barrier across the peninsula, with the aim of preventing any British incursions, and to serve as a base for fresh Spanish attempts to retake Gibraltar. They played an important role in the Great Siege of Gibraltar between 1779 and 1783 when they supported the unsuccessful French and Spanish assault on the British-held fortress. The siege was ended after the lines of contravallation were attacked by British and Dutch forces under the command of the Governor of Gibraltar, General Augustus Eliot. The attack caused the Spanish forces to retreat and abandon the fortifications and the combined British led forces virtually destroyed all the Spanish gun batteries and the enemy cannon and munitions either captured or destroyed. This attack is still commemorated to this day and is known as 'Sortie Day'. Only 25 years later they were effectively abandoned by the Spanish as the Peninsular War recast France as Spain's enemy and Britain as its ally. Stripped of guns, stores and garrison, which were sent elsewhere to bolster Spanish resistance against French forces, the Lines were demolished by the British in February 1810 with the permission of the Spanish as a French army approached. Although Napoleon had no intention of attacking Gibraltar, the British feared that the Lines could be used to support a French siege against the territory. The modern town of La Línea de la Concepción was subsequently established amidst the ruins of the fortifications, of which only a few fragmentary remains can be seen today.
Construction Following the Anglo-Dutch capture of Gibraltar in 1704 and the subsequent Twelfth Siege of Gibraltar, in which the Spanish and their French allies sought unsuccessfully to recover the territory, the Spanish built a permanent line of fortifications facing south across the isthmus. Construction began in November 1730 under the Marquis of Verboom with the intention that the lines would block any British invasion of Spanish territory mounted from Gibraltar, act as a starting point for any future Spanish operations against Gibraltar, and cut off access to the territory by land. The lines covered a distance of 950 toises (1,900 yards (1,700 m)) and were built 1,000 toises (2,000 yards (1,800 m)) from the Rock of Gibraltar, where the British defences began.
This sparked a diplomatic dispute between Britain and Spain. During the negotiations that led to the Treaty of Utrecht of 1713, under which Spain ceded Gibraltar to Britain, the British government sought to compel the Spanish to cede "a convenient quantity of land round Gibraltar, viz., to the distance of two cannon shot ... which is absolutely necessary for preventing all occasions of dispute between the Garrison and the Country ..." The Spanish government adamantly refused and would agree only to cede "the town and castle of Gibraltar, together with the port, fortifications and forts thereto belonging", explicitly rejecting any suggestion that Britain had any claim over the isthmus. It also insisted there would be no "open communication by land with the country round about." When work began on the Lines of Contravallation, the British again asserted that "although territorial jurisdiction was not ceded with the Fortress of Gibraltar by the Treaty of Utrecht, it is a recognised maxim and a constant usage in favour of fortified places, that the ground commended by their cannon pertains to them ..." Once again the Spanish rejected this; the Spanish Secretary of State, the Marquis de la Paz, replied to a British démarche to point out that the "cannon shot rule" had not been agreed in the treaty, and that in any case "the ordinary range of cannon is 200 to 250 toises and the line is set more than 600 toises' distance from the fortress". He noted that in fact the Spanish could have built the lines nearer to the fortress but "in order to maintain good relations [His Majesty] has sought to banish the not well founded misgivings of England, by causing the line to be taken back to the place where it is now situate[d]". The building works continued despite British protests that it was a hostile act and demands, which the Spanish ignored, that the lines should be removed to a distance of 5,000 yards from the fortress walls.
Layout The Spanish lines consisted of a continuous series of fortifications anchored at either end by two substantial forts. Lieutenant Colonel Thomas James of the Royal Artillery, writing in his 1771 History of the Herculean Straits, provided a detailed description of each of the forts and bastions.
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