Languages of Gibraltar were 326 people of Spanish nationality in Gibraltar, and a large number of ""Frontier Workers"" who commute there for work. Owing to its close proximity to Morocco and Algeria, the Berber language and Maghrebi Arabic are spoken by the Moroccan and other North African minorities in the city. In 2001, there were 961 Moroccans in Gibraltar. Hindi and Sindhi is also spoken by the Indian community of Gibraltar. Maltese, a language which was widely used in Gibraltar up until the late 19th century, and is still spoken by some families of Maltese descent. Similarly, Genoese was spoken in Catalan Bay
European Union (Referendum) Act 2016 (Gibraltar) 1 January 1986, some thirteen years later. Gibraltar did not participate in the 1975 UK European Communities membership referendum even though the result directly impacted on its membership and didn't participate in any European Parliamentary Elections between 1979 and 1999 but in 2002 legislation was passed by the British Parliament which allowed Gibraltar to formally take part in the 2004 European Parliament election as part of the South West European Parliament constituency in all subsequent European elections. Following the surprise election victory by the Conservatives in May 2015 it was announced that Gibraltar would fully participate in the proposed referendum