Gibraltar

August 14, 2017

Gibraltar

While staying in Seville, we decided to take a day trip to Gibraltar, which is a U.K. territory. The experience was quite incredible. Gibraltar was taken from Spain during the early 1700's. There is still confrontation between Spain and Gibraltar regarding is sovereignty, but Gibraltar remains separated from Spain. Gibraltar is very small and connects directly to Spain, but the language and people are very different. As we walked the streets, we primarily heard English and saw few things in Spanish. To get into Gibraltar we had to go through customs and walked directly across their airport runway.

In the photo to the right you can see the runway. (The customs check right behind it.) Towards the bottom of the photo is a densely occupied cemetery. I learned that the graveyard had Muslim, Jewish, and Christian people buried there.

We took a private tour by van to the see the sites of the Rock of Gibraltar. Our guide Paul, who was born in Gibraltar, gave us an an incredibly fun and informative tour. We stood at the spot where where the Mediterranean Sea converges with the Atlantic Ocean. We even got to see Morocco since visibility was great.

Here are some of the things I learned while in Gibraltar:

Gibraltar doesn't have much access to fresh water, so they have large desalination plants.
Most of Gibraltar's workforce is from outside of Gibraltar, as homes are not very affordable and the cost of living is much higher than other towns.
Much of the area around the marina is used for multi-million dollar homes that are usually not even occupied.
The Barbary macaques (which we got a picture with) are a key part of Gibraltar's tourism.
These monkeys can be vicious is provoked, but they were very photo friendly
Lastly, Gibraltar is a hotspot for celebrity weddings. John Lennon was married on the Rock.