The people of Gibraltar, the small, fiercely British colony at the tip of southern Spain, overwhelmingly rejected the idea of shared sovereignty between London and Madrid in a vote whose results were announced early this morning.

In totals shortly after 2:30 a.m., the no vote was 98.9 percent, with 17,900 no ballots cast, 187 yes votes and 72 blank votes.

The opposition to shared sovereignty was further bolstered by a report released Thursday night by the influential British parliamentary committee on foreign affairs, which strongly criticized British government policy on Gibraltar and told London it should take the referendum's result into account.

It also said the result of Britain's policy ''is likely to be the worst of all worlds -- the dashing of raised expectations in Spain and a complete loss of trust in the British government by the people of Gibraltar.''

The result was hardly unexpected. On Thursday morning, a headline in the daily Gibraltar Chronicle announced: ''Today Gibraltar Votes No.'' Gibraltar's 20,500 voters were expected to vote no in large numbers to the question: ''Do you approve of the principle that Britain and Spain should share sovereignty over Gibraltar?''

The British and Spanish governments had dismissed the referendum as irrelevant, saying they have not agreed to any deal. Spain claims the territory, which it ceded to Britain under the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht. But the ballot paper made a reference to a July 12 statement by the British foreign secretary, Jack Straw, that there was ''broad agreement'' on many issues, including the principle that Britain and Spain should share sovereignty.

Gibraltar was not involved in the negotiations and the referendum was intended to emphasize the pre-emptive rejection of any such move.

Peter Caruana, the chief minister, who leads the local government and who devised the referendum, had said that a no vote above 90 percent would make a ''political dead end'' of any road toward joint sovereignty.

Mr. Caruana said that Gibraltar could be de-colonized by modernizing its Constitution, without changing British sovereignty.

On the day of the vote, the flags of Britain and Gibraltar were draped from dozens of apartments. Posters saying ''Give Spain No Hope, Vote No'' were plastered all over the town center, along with white balloons bearing the logo ''Gibraltar Forever, Spanish Fornever.''

There was no yes campaign, though Manuel Sanchez, a 51-year-old plumber, appeared on the cover of a local magazine under the headline ''The First Yes Voter.''

The people of Gibraltar enjoy a privileged way of life, with salaries almost a third higher than the Spanish average. Many of them are descended from Mediterranean travelers and merchants, and most switch easily between English and Andalusian-accented Spanish. But most say they feel British.

A deal with Spain is unlikely in the near future, but although the colonial powers may push the issue aside for a while, it will not go away. At sunset, Duncan Victor, 22, lowered the three flags -- Gibraltar, Britain and the European Union -- that fly over Gibraltar before casting his no vote.

Did he think the red-and-yellow Spanish flag would ever fly here? ''I hope not,'' he replied, voicing his dismay over Spain's pursuit of a claim that is nearly 300 years old. ''Why not get over it? You lost it to Britain, get over it.''