At the very bottom of the Iberian Peninsula, occupying a notoriously strategic position overlooking the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea, lies a narrow spit of land dominated by one enormous rock protruding skywards from its centre. Gibraltar is one of the remaining 14 British Overseas Territories, and at just two and a half square miles it is the tiniest of these last vestiges of the once great British Empire. It has been under British rule since the signing of the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713, despite the Spanish persistently claiming it as their own. You can’t blame them I suppose, it is basically in their country, and strategically you couldn’t find a better position, standing guard over the Strait of Gibraltar – a narrow channel of water just nine miles wide separating Europe from Africa through which half of all the worlds water-borne traffic passes. It’s no wonder the UK has refused to give up sovereignty! It’s not a one way argument however, there have been several referendums giving the Gibraltarians the option to return to joint rule between British and Spanish, all of which have been overwhelmingly rejected in favour of the Brits staying in charge.
As we approach the border, or The Frontier as it’s known locally, the famous rock looms in the background, dwarfing all of the high rise buildings visible on the other side. We parked our van in the huge car park on the Spanish side so we could walk through passport control rather than drive. The queue can apparently be horrendous to cross the border in a vehicle, sometimes taking up to 8 hours at its very worst. Although if you can stand the wait your reward would be to fill up your petrol tank at the cheapest prices I have seen in a long time in the tax free stations of Gibraltar. £1.17 a litre is a fuel price I vaguely remember from the pre-pandemic days, and it’s a shame I couldn’t take advantage of it today!
There are loads of things to do in Gibraltar, despite its diminutive size. The town itself is worth exploring, or you could head down to Europa Point lighthouse on the very tip, there are also dolphin and whale expeditions available from the harbour as well as a fantastic Botanical Garden. Our destination today however is the top of the rock. I pre-booked tickets for the cable car which ascends the 412 metres from its base station in around 6 minutes and then allows us access to the nature reserve and all of its attractions. It also includes a shuttle transfer from the Frontier, so after asking airport security for directions we located the correct bus stop and waited for the shuttle. We had been led to believe it would arrive every 15 minutes or so, but after about half an hour we started to wonder. We soon found out that the gaggle of Spanish septuagenarians who had been waiting at the bus-stop prior to our arrival had now reached the one hour mark, and we consequently decided to abandon our wait for the non-existent shuttle and instead pay £1.50 each to travel the 1.7 miles on the regular bus instead. One cool thing about the entry to Gibraltar is that the runway of the airport runs along the entire length of the Frontier, and the main road from Spain into town dissects it straight through the middle. So every time a flight comes into land or prepares to take off, the airport security guards have to lower the barrier and drag the tyre stingers across the tarmac, closing the road and blocking access for five or so minutes whilst the air traffic takes priority over cars and pedestrians.
We eventually arrived at the cable car station at around 10 to 12. Perfect, we’ll be at the top by midday I thought. How wrong I was. I have never known such a simple operation as a cable car to produce such a ridiculous queue. It’s not like a ski lift with multiple cars travelling a perpetual loop up, around and back down. Instead, there are two separate lines with only one car on each, resulting in a fifteen minute round trip per car carrying around 15 people at a time. Our waiting time went from the 25 minutes estimated by the attendant to a whopping hour and a half overall. It would literally have been quicker to walk up the rock. You do however get treated to some fairly epic views along the side of the rock during the brief ride when you finally ascend, somewhat making up for losing a large percentage of your day at its base.
Ah well, we made it in time for lunch anyway. There isn’t much choice at the top, well actually there isn’t any choice at all. The cafe was shut, leaving only the restaurant. Luckily the food is pretty good, and reasonably priced considering there’s no competition. The other plus point of having lunch here is the views are simply fantastic. You sit above the cloud level, and we could actually watch the clouds rolling over the peak below us with the seemingly tiny buildings in the distance.
Well fed, we decided which way to head to take in some sights. There are loads of things to see up there, but unless you start very early in the day and have sub 30 year old fitness levels (which I don’t by the way), there’s simply no way you’re gonna see it all. The problem is that you start at the top, so everything you go to see leads downwards, inevitably resulting in an uphill walk to get back. At one end you could see the Great Siege tunnels from the 18th century and the more recent network of WW2 tunnels amongst other things. We chose instead to head in the opposite direction, and the first thing we came across was Skywalk. Actually, that’s not strictly true. The first thing you come across on your way to Skywalk is monkeys, loads of them. Gibraltar is famous for its resident population of Barbary Apes (they’re actually macaques), and there’s no avoiding them even if you wanted to. It was said that if the apes were ever to leave the rock the British would leave as well. This was perilously close to happening in WW2 when the numbers dwindled to just six. Enter Winston Churchill who had more brought over from Africa, and furthermore issued a directive that the numbers should never again drop below 24. Phew! The Empire was safe once again. They’re cheeky little sods, and the best advice is to keep any loose objects under wraps, and DEFINITELY don’t have any food near them. They are brazen thieves, and hungry ones, and they will rob you! They are also pretty cute if you ignore the fleas, poo and thievery. Anyway, the Skywalk. This relatively new attraction is a reinforced glass walkway hanging somewhat precariously hundreds of metres above the cliffs. It looks great in the photos with the clean glass disappearing against the sky, leaving an illusion of floating mid air. In reality, the glass is fairly filthy due in no small part I’d imagine to the filthy apes constantly clambering all over it, somewhat shattering said intended illusion. In any case, I don’t have much of a chance to look at it as I am almost instantly attacked by several of the hairy little blighters trying to wrestle my phone from my hands. Realising he couldn’t extract my phone from my now vice-like grip, the larger primate instead chooses to sit on my shoulder, and attempts to open every pocket on my backpack. Bad luck monkey-boy, this is a pickpocket proof backpack I bought specifically for this trip, and you’ve got no chance! While my face is being subjected to the perilous proximity of this monkeys malodorous groin, poor old Hunter runs towards me screaming “TAKE THE GLASSES” as a monkey hangs on his back attempting to steal his sunglasses. Eventually, foiled by our superior anti-monkey tactics, they all leave us alone and content themselves with fighting over an empty plastic bag instead. Humans 1, monkeys 0.
Reeling from our victory over the animal kingdom at Skywalk we March towards our next stop on the rock, St. Michael’s Cave. This is one of over 150 caves found within the rock, but it is the most famous and most impressive. It’s name derives from the rock formation which bears a passing resemblance to the archangel Michael, especially when illuminated from the perfect angle. The cave has had many uses over the centuries, including a Victorian wedding venue, a WW2 military hospital and a home to prehistoric humans. Nowadays the main chamber is home to a huge seated auditorium where it’s daily visitors can sit and enjoy a spectacular show every 8 minutes, lighting up the walls with an audio-visual journey through time. The Cathedral Cave, as it’s known, is also home to many concerts and events throughout the year, and also, rather hilariously, the annual Miss Gibraltar competition.
As we wander on down the trail after leaving the cave, we make the decision that it will be much easier to keep on walking and make our way off the rock on foot, rather than trudge back to the top and risk waiting indefinitely in line once again just to be ferried back to the base by the cable car.
The route down takes you past many more interesting sights. The Windsor suspension bridge is a 70 metre long suspended walkway between two military batteries on the Royal Anglian Way. There is a slight but discernible wobble as you cross, but you are rewarded with some fantastic views across the bay. You pass many other batteries on the way down, and they are all worth a look. Devils Gap Battery is even still home to a pair of 6 inch Naval guns installed there in 1902. One of these guns actually fired upon and sank a German submarine in the First World War – the first and only action seen by the coastal defences of Gibraltar during the entire war.
Having descended the 412 metres on foot, we were eventually spat back out into the town at the bottom of Devils Gap Road, where you are treated to some rather nifty patriotic graffiti if you look back up the steps you have just walked down. A quick walk back to our bus stop which is located directly outside the Trafalgar Cemetery, and we are whisked back to the frontier in no time. Unfortunately the cemetery isn’t open, although there are only actually two graves here belonging to victims of the famous battle. The queue of traffic leaving the border surprisingly doesn’t actually seem too bad as we walk past it towards the pedestrian crossing. We are surrounded by day-trippers weighed down with duty free cigarettes and alcohol. A useful perk if you close by I would imagine! That’s it – that’s as far south as we are heading on this part of our trip. Time to head north once again. Hopefully the sunshine will last a bit longer as we make our way back up, it’s been a while since I’ve worn anything but shorts and t-shirts and I’m not looking forward to getting back to a British winter!