Iberian Roadtrip—Part 3: Gibraltar

Stop #3: Gibraltar

On the fourth day we wanted to get from Sevilla to Granada, with a stop in Gibraltar. So what's so interesting about this rock that Spain and England are quarreling for even nowadays? As we agreed with Jura, the moment Gibraltar is transferred from England to Spain, it will stop being interesting for tourists altogether. There are not many sightseeings, save for the rock itself. But I have to admit the way the city grew from within a military fortress resulted in an interesting street layout.

"Jura, stand there for a picture."
"Nope, I don't like that flag in front of it."

Crossing the airport like a boss

There is British police with their funny hats and supermarkets that are full of employees who don't speak a word in English. So just like England.

OK, not completely. They pay with Gibraltar pound, the value of which is pegged to the British pound at the rate 1:1. Their car IDs have GBZ as the identification of the country, not GB.

We passed through the border and also the famous crossing of a road and an airport. After a walk through the historical core, we took a cable car to the Upper Rock National Reserve, the home of the Gibraltar Macaques. At the lower station there was a sign, warning that the monkeys associate plastic bags with food and snatch them. The steward in the cable car warned us that the monkeys associate plastic bags with food and snatch them. And Evelyn did have a visible plastic bag with her and did not hide it. The monkeys, upon seeing it, associated it with food and snatched it. Within a fraction of a second. So one big macaque had a lunch and did not even want to share it with youngsters that were around, begging for a piece. Well, Evelyn had a lesson.

Among other things on the rock to see, there is a cave and also some old military fortresses from the beginning of the 20^th century.

This way!

Upper Rock

The City of Gibraltar, the Airport
and Línea de la Concepción in the background

The visitors

The locals

Don't fuck with me human.
Where are the biscuits?

Nothing is better than a siesta

Abandoned military installations on the Rock

Europa Point—the southernmost tip.
A lighthouse, a mosque and a playground.

Europa Point lighthouse

If you look closely (and magnify the picture)
you will see Africa

In the end we sat at the Europa Point—the southernmost tip of the peninsula, ate things from the backpacks, while observing Africa, and watching big cargo ships crossing the Pillars of Hercules. Gibraltar—check!