It’s Good Friday on the Mediterranean.
Today, we’re visiting the British territory of Gibraltar on a Grand Circle excursion. With Brexit, that meant going through customs on both the Spanish and the British side of the border.
Once inside Merry Ole England’s territory, we dumped our big bus in a garage. Split up between three smaller, more maneuverable buses, we set out for the southern-most tip of the peninsula, Europa Point. We could see Africa across the water, from one pillar of Hercules (Gibraltar) to the other (Cueta). This took me back to our 2018 cruise stop in Cueta, the autonomous Spanish city across the strait on the Moroccan coast, that sports a large statue of Herc separating two large bronze columns.
Leaving land’s end behind, our driver took us on an upward climb of the Rock, giving us spectacular views of the Gibraltar port, city and bay, the Andalusian coast and the Atlantic Ocean. The road was narrow, almost clinging to the Rock’s face, as we moved ever higher in search of another of Gibraltar’s big attractions (and permanent residents), its monkeys.
Anyone who’s familiar with Gibraltar is familiar with the Barbary macaques. They are generally friendly but will fight tooth and nail to wrestle detected food items from unwary tourists. Originally brought to the rock from Africa, legend has it that if the monkeys disappear from Gibraltar, so too will the British. During WWII, when their numbers were dwindling from inbreeding and disease, Winston Churchill sent to North Africa for replacements. The revitalized colony has thrived ever since.
Leaving the beasts behind, we headed towards our third adventure, Gibraltar’s vast underground network. With hard hats in place, we were able to explore those tunnels now open to tourists.
The Rock has had fortification tunnels since the British army occupied the peninsula. Today, there are approx. 34 miles of them throughout. No surprise, the greatest expansion was in the 20th century (WWII!) when they were enlarged to house a defensive army and all their supplies. And while there were attacks by German, Vichy French and Italian forces during the war, the Rock was never truly threatened and any damage was slight. The British retained control of the Mediterranean entrance for the duration.
After the tunnel tour, we were driven to a restaurant, The Lounge, for a luncheon of High Tea. Afterwards, we were dropped off at the Water Gate to explore the old town’s main shopping district. There were still a surprising number of stores open for a Good Friday afternoon, although the local Marks & Spencer was shuttered.
Returning to our bus, we left “Great Britain” and reentered Spain through Passport Control and Customs. Returning to the hotel, the three of us polished off two bottles of wine before heading out for an incredible dinner at a very creative little restaurant named Ibiza.
POST-TRIP ADDITION
I ran across the following view on social media of Gibralter as seen from a plane window. I thought it gave a nice overview of the territory and The Rock’s dominance of the peninsula.
Spain and Portugal in Depth 