Southport Gates

We drove from Ronda to Gibraltar this morning. It is a two hour drive through a mountainous region of the most spectacular countryside. Southern Spain in rugged and grand. As we descended from the mountains towards the Mediterranean Sea, we passed many luxury resorts in the hinterland with fantastic views of the famous coastline.

We parked the car in La Linea and walked through customs into Gibraltar. The small region of Gibraltar is still English territory and has been since 1770. The strategic location is a key to controlling the maritime trade in the Mediterranean Sea. Half the worlds maritime trade passes through the narrow straight of Gibraltar, which is only 8 miles across (14km). One can clearly see Africa from Gibraltar and vice versa.

The famous rock of Gibraltar took me by surprise. I was not expecting something so huge. It is a monster which just rises out of nowhere. It is a memorable landmark in an amazing location. It has seen a huge amount of history. Many naval fleets have passed by and some have even attacked the ruling power in Gibraltar, from Roman times right up to WW2. Hitler hatched a plan to take Gibraltar from the Brits but it failed. It was code named Operation Felix.

We had lunch at McDonald’s near Gibraltar and were amused that the drive through was called McAuto.Read more