Landing
In 1704, Spain was still firmly in the hands of Bourbon King Philip V. Contacted by some pro-Habsburg Catalan nobles, Prince George of Hesse-Darmstadt convinced the Allies to send a fleet to Barcelona, in the hope that, as a consequence, the people would rise up against the new pro-Bourbon Viceroy Francisco de Velasco.
A fleet of 30 English and 18 Dutch ships under command of Admiral George Rooke, with George of Darmstadt on board, sailed from Lisbon to Barcelona. When the fleet appeared before the city, the expected uprising didn't happen. George of Darmstadt then landed some 1,200 British and 400 Dutch marines at the mouth of the river Besòs, where they were joined by some 1,000 armed Catalans. This landing also failed to provoke a reaction inside the city.
Warned that a larger French fleet was approaching, the Allies had no other option than to re-embark and sail back to Lisbon. On their way back, they captured Gibraltar on 3 August. Several hundred Catalans accompanied the fleet south and fought with the Allies at Gibraltar. Some 350 of them settled just north of Gibraltar in a spot named Catalan Bay after them.
The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict fought between 1701 and 1714. The immediate cause was the death of the childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700, which led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire among supporters of the claimant Bourbon and Habsburg dynasties. His official heir was Philip of Anjou, a grandson of Louis XIV of France, whose main backers were France and most of Spain. His rival, Archduke Charles of Austria, was supported by the Grand Alliance, whose primary members included Austria, the Dutch Republic, and Great Britain. Significant related conflicts include the 1700 to 1721 Great Northern War, and Queen Anne's War in North America.
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Rafael Casanova i Comes was a Catalan jurist and supporter of Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor as a claimant to the Crown of Spain during the War of the Spanish succession. He became mayor of Barcelona and commander in chief of Catalonia during the Siege of Barcelona until he was wounded in combat while commanding La Coronela during the counterattack on the Saint Peter front on the last day of the siege, 11 September 1714. After the war he received a royal pardon for having supported the Habsburg claim to the Spanish throne. He recovered from his wounds, and continued his fight against absolute monarchy as a lawyer. It has been claimed that he is the author of the book Record de l'Aliança fet el Sereníssim Jordi Augusto Rey de la Gran Bretanya in which Catalonia reminds England of the Treaty of Genoa and their obligation to Catalonia.
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The Battle of Montjuïc took place between 13 and 17 September 1705 during the War of the Spanish Succession.
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Don Diego Esteban Gómez de Salinas y Rodríguez de Villarroel was the last Spanish Governor of Gibraltar. He held the post when The Rock was captured by an Anglo-Dutch fleet in August 1704.
The twelfth siege of Gibraltar was fought between September 1704 and May 1705 during the War of the Spanish Succession. It followed the capture in August 1704 of the fortified town of Gibraltar, at the southern tip of Spain, by an Anglo–Dutch naval force led by Sir George Rooke and Prince George of Hesse-Darmstadt. The members of the Grand Alliance, the Holy Roman Empire, England, the Netherlands, Pro-Habsburg Spain, Portugal and Savoy, had allied to prevent the unification of the French and Spanish thrones by supporting the claim of the Habsburg pretender Archduke Charles VI of Austria as Charles III of Spain. They were opposed by the rival claimant, the Bourbon Philip, Duke of Anjou, ruling as Philip V of Spain, and his patron and ally, Louis XIV of France. The war began in northern Europe and was largely contained there until 1703, when Portugal joined the confederate powers. From then, English naval attentions were focused on mounting a campaign in the Mediterranean to distract the French navy and disrupt French and Bourbon Spanish shipping or capture a port for use as a naval base. The capture of Gibraltar was the outcome of that initial stage of the Mediterranean campaign.
Juan Bautista Basset y Ramos was a Valencian military man who led the revolt of the Kingdom of Valencia against Philip of Anjou during the War of the Spanish Succession as leader of the Maulets, Valencian supporters of Archduke Charles of Austria.
Francisco Antonio Fernández de Velasco y Tovar, count of Melgar, was a Spanish noble and Viceroy of Catalonia.
No Peace Without Spain was a popular British political slogan of the early eighteenth century. It referred to the ongoing War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714) in which Britain was a leading participant. It implied that no peace treaty could be agreed with Britain's principal enemy Louis XIV of France that allowed Philip, the French candidate, to retain the Spanish crown. The term became a rallying cry for opposition to the Tory government of Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford and the terms of the Treaty of Utrecht.
The Palace of the Viceroy was a palace in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. During the time it was a royal residence, it was known as the Royal Palace ), and its popular name was Hala dels Draps. It was located in the Pla de Palau, in the center of the Ciutat Vella district of Barcelona.
The Pact of Genoa was a military and political alliance formed in 1705 between the Kingdom of England and landowning Austracists on behalf of the Principality of Catalonia within the framework set by the War of Spanish Succession. According to the terms of agreement, England stationed troops in Catalonia, which, united with the Catalonian forces, fought in favour of Charles VI of the Holy Roman Empire for the candidacy of the Spanish throne against the armies of Philip V of Spain, compromising the maintenance of Catalonian laws and institutions.
England 
Dutch Republic 
Pro-Habsburg Spain 
Pro-Bourbon Spain