Rock of Gibraltar

Since we were only 140 km from Gibraltar we decided to take a bus tour to this small peninsula that is a British territory. We considered renting a car but for 40€ each we got picked up near our resort in a nice tour bus, got driven to Gibraltar, and had a full tour once we got there. It was a very good deal and stress-free. At the “frontier”, the Spanish border officer came onto our bus and checked everybody’s passport. A few feet away a Gibraltar border officer came onto our bus and also checked everybody’s passport! The town is just 5 minutes from the border and you have to drive over the airport runway to get there. It seemed so odd to see pedestrians and cars crossing the runway. The population is 36,000 and the Rock is only 6 km long and 1.5 km wide, with the highest peak 1400 feet. There is very little land mass and most of what is there was man made with clay and sand.

A small group of us transferred to an old mini bus for our tour. Our driver was very knowledgeable and had a good sense of humour, although I didn’t find it very funny when he purposely drove very close to the edge of the unprotected cliff edge. We stopped to see the Strait of Gibraltar where you could clearly see North Africa 24 km away. Then we were taken to St. Michael’s Cave which had been prepared during World War II to make an emergency hospital. It is now used for tours and concerts. The highlight of my day was the next stop at the Apes’ Den as I have always loved monkeys.

We then had time to walk through the town and have lunch....fish & chips and chicken pot pie of course. On our return we had to get off the bus and walk across both borders just flashing our passports at the officers. The bus picked us up in Spain. Tourism is a big industry and Spain would like to reclaim Gibraltar. So occasionally the Spanish border officers will get very finicky and purposefully hold up travellers. Overall it was a very enjoyable day!Read more