After a night of parties and fireworks, thousands of people in Gibraltar linked hands as they celebrated 300 years of British rule

After a night of parties and fireworks, thousands of people in Gibraltar linked hands as they celebrated 300 years of British rule, irking Spain which has long claimed the rocky territory. British Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon and the head of the British navy were joining the festivities in what Madrid has denounced as an "unfriendly act". "If Spain wants to get offended because we say that this is our Rock, so be it," Gibraltar's chief minister Peter Caruana said. "But it is not our intention to offend anyone." On the territory, a strategically vital gateway to the Mediterranean, the celebrations got underway overnight with music and all-night street parties. At the stroke of midnight, a 15-minute fireworks display heralded the 300th anniversary. In the morning, thousands of people started to form a massive human chain, holding hands, around the Rock in a demonstration intended to underline their allegiance to London. Later in the day the House of Assembly, Gibraltar's parliament, was to make a formal declaration opposing any transfer of sovereignty to Spain. The joint motion by the government and opposition is expected to win unanimous backing. The climax of the festivities was to be a military parade in the evening at which the British Royal Navy, which helped capture Gibraltar on August 4, 1704, was to be conferred the freedom of the territory.