Gibraltar

On Tuesday February 21st we took a day trip to Gibraltar.. From Marbella it is about an hour drive along the coast ro reach the border of Spain and Gibraltar.  Gibraltar is an English Territory which was first settled by the Moors in the Middle Ages and was later ruled by Spain but was ceded to the British in 1713 and has remained a bone of contention with the Spanish ever since.  In the 60’s and 70’s Franco closed the border all together and closed off all communication so those living in Gibraltar were very isolated and could only leave by sea.  We had an amazing guide ,Tom, who has grown up here and raised his family on Gibraltar with only a brief stint in the USA where he met his wife.  Located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula Gibraltar is home to 32,000 residents but during the day that total increases by 50% as the workers from Spain come in to fulfil their jobs.  Tourism is the number one industry with online gambling being the second which was a big surprise to us.  Next is shipping as half the worlds ships stop here to refuel on their travels.  The rock itself is 426 meters at its highest elevation and was an important base for the Royal Navy duty the Napoleonic and Second World War as it controls the narrow entrance to the Mediterranean Sea.  The Rock itself has over 50 kilometres of tunnels built inside which were used during the wars.  The huge St Michael’s Caves are now a huge tourist attraction and are beautifully lit but during the war we’re kept as a hospital when the residents of the rock were mostly evacuated to other areas such as London.  Visiting the top of the Rock we were met with many Barbary Macaques which are native to Morocco and are the only monkeys living wild in Europe.  They do control the population of these monkeys as they do reproduce quite freely and would over run the rock in no time. They are very habituated and one has to be careful to hold onto one’s bag.  Thes views from the top of the rock were stunning.  Tom explained how they are slowly reclaiming back land from the sea on which to build as they have no more bailable land.  All food is brought in and water is through a desalination plant. All residents have two water lines with salt water being used where ever it can be.  We toured the caves and the tunnels and learned so much before a stroll through the town and a lunch of traditional English fish and chips before heading back to the hotel.  An amazing day!

Our first glimpses of Gibraltar in the distance from Marbella

Arriving at the border and seeing Gibraltar through some haze

A monument on the top of Gibraltar which pay homage to the belief that the Rock is one of the Pillars of Hercules 

Entrance to the Great Siege Tunnels

One of the restored canons pointed out to the Strait of Gibraltar 

Formations inside st Michael’s Caves

Some of the beautiful lights reflecting on the caves during the light show

It is mating season for the monkeys and they spend hours grooming each other hoping for a mate

These ancient rings are in the rocks all the way up to the top of Gibraltar and it is how the workers hauled supplies up the steep inclines

Eric out on the glass platform looking out over the ocean at the top of the Rock

A monkey just sitting surveying his domain

This is an example of land they are currently reclaiming and which will eventually all be housing 

Around the marina shows housing built on reclaimed land. The houses at the top of the picture sell for several million pounds each 

The pedestrian street of the town

The airport divides Spain and Gibraltar with the red topped building’s being the Gibraltar border with Spain behind. When airplanes are landing or taking off all traffic stops which apparently in the summer can be quite a hold up