Gibraltar

Gibraltar, often known as The Rock, is a British colony on the southern coast of Spain at the entrance to the Mediterranean sea.

Understand

In Greek mythology Gibraltar was Calpe, one of the Pillars of Hercules, which marked the edge of the Mediterranean and the known world.

In 711 Tariq ibn Ziyad, the Muslim governor of Tangier, landed at Gibraltar to launch the Islamic invasion of the Iberian Peninsula. The Rock took his name - Jabal al Tariq (Mountain of Tariq) eventually became Gibraltar.

Strategically important, Gibraltar was ceded to Great Britain by Spain in the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht; the British garrison was formally declared a colony in 1830. The topmost part of the Rock is still a British military installation, and off-limits to the public.

In referendums held in 1967 and 2002, the 27,800 Gibraltarians (2004 figures) ignored Spanish pressure and voted overwhelmingly to remain a British dependency. And, on the 10th of June 2004, citizens of Gibraltar voted for the first time in the UK MEP (Member of the European Parliament) elections, as part of the South West constituency (News Item).

See

Europa Point - where the Atlantic meets the Mediterranean, and from which the coast of Africa can be seen
The Upper Rock - military installation and nature reserve. This is where the famous apes live (Barbary macaques)
St Michael's Cave - an impressive natural grotto used by the neolithic inhabitants of the Rock
Siege Tunnels - a system of tunnels dug during the Great Siege which acted as a defence system
Dolphin Watching - short trips in the bay (several times a day) - there are plenty of playful dolphins to see

Cable cars run from 9.30am until 5.45pm to the Upper Rock. A "cable car and apes" ticket costs £8 return, while a ticket including entrance to St. Michael's Cave and the Siege Tunnels costs £16. Entrance to each sight costs £8 without this ticket.

Get In

By Plane

The airport has daily flights to and from London Heathrow and Gatwick, Manchester and Luton in the UK.

By Car

Queues at the border may make it less time-consuming to park cars in La Línea and walk across. The land border is open 24 hours a day, though expect delays when planes are landing - the only road into Gibraltar runs right across the airport runway!

By Bus

Buses from Spain stop just short of Gibraltar in La Línea, but its bus station is only 3 minutes walk from the border.

After walking across the border, there are buses every 15 minutes to the centre of Gibraltar and Europa Point, or it's only about another 10 minutes walk (across the runway and through a tunnel under the city walls) to the main Casemates Square.

At La Línea there are regular buses to and from Seville, Malaga, Cadiz, Granada etc. and hourly to Algeciras

From Algeciras you can get the bus to Gibraltar. When you walk out from the harbor (with ferries), turn left, walk along the main street for about 100m and then turn right. Continue about 200m along this street to the small building with railroads. There is small sign for the bus stop. This bus can get you to La Linea for about 1.6 euro and it goes every 30 minutes during the day. You will arrive at the bus station about 500m from the border with Gibraltar.

At present (March 2005) timetable for buses from Malaga to Gibraltar and back:

From Malaga to La Linea: 7:00, 10:15, 14:00, 17:15, 19:00 [length: 2:50-3:00] one way for 9,31 €
From La Linea to Malaga: 7:15, 10:30, 14:15, 17:30, 20:45 [length: 2:50] one way for 9,31 €

Current info for Malaga bus station Estación de Autobuses de Málaga [mailto:estabus@emtsam.es Contact]

By Boat

There are normally three ferries a week each way between Gibraltar and Tangier, taking around two hours. The ferries accommodate cars.

Get Around

Gibraltar is less than 7 square kilometres, so most of it can be seen on foot. Bear in mind, though, that some of the roads (especially up to the Upper Rock) are very steep. Taxis that will take the strain out of the climbs, and all the taxi drivers seem to know all the apes by name. There is also a cable car that runs from the town up to Europa Point.

Talk

Gibraltar is a British dependency in Spain, so as one might imagine the inhabitants speak English and Spanish interchangeably. Street signs and shops are predominantly English.

Buy

Officially Gibraltar uses the Gibraltar Pound (GIP), which is equivalent to Pounds Sterling (GBP), but shops will accept Euros. Bear in mind that shops will generally give you a worse rate of exchange than the Bureau de Changes and generally won't accept small change.

Eat

The Clipper in Irish Town has good food, friendly staff, and satellite television. They serve a hearty English breakfast for £3.50.

Drink

The Lord Nelson on Casemates Square is one of the more popular pubs in Gibraltar. If the live music gets on your nerves then take a walk down Main Street for plenty more bars. Some other good bars include The Clipper, Star Bar (the oldest pub in Gibraltar), and The Horseshoe Bar

Sleep

Emile Youth Hostel, Montague Bastion - This family-run hostel has basic shared rooms for £15 including continental breakfast. It's centrally located just off Casemates Square.

The authors of this document are Anonymous user(s) of Wikitravel, David Le Brun, Duane Licudi, Evan Prodromou, Peter Donaghy, Rob Payne, Rob and the following WikiTravel users: Bijee, CIAWorldFactbook2002, DanielC, Huttite, InterLangBot, Nils, Sjc196. The original version of this article can be seen at http://wikitravel.org/en/Gibraltar.