The Confusing Existence of Gibraltar

Onward to the rock fortress of Gibraltar! It’s really confusing, because while being located on the southernmost tip of the Iberian Peninsula, of Spain, it is under British control. What? Yes, that was my reaction too.

In essence, Gibraltar is one of the fourteen remaining British Overseas Territories, remnants of the British Empire. With an area of 6.7 sq kilometres and home to slightly over 32,000 persons, it is a mere 1% of the size of Madrid, the largest city of Spain.

As our coach made way into Gibraltar, we saw the imposing presence of the limestone monolith that, legend has it, marks one end of the limit to the known world (the other end being Jebel Musa, on the opposite side of the Strait of Gibraltar).

Gibraltar has only one main street, and it runs through the only runway the small airport has jurisdiction over. Yes, you read it right, it runs across the runway. Very strange and it made me very nervous, considering how runway incursion is a massive bane of any aerodrome controller’s life.

Turns out everyone who drives into and out of Gibraltar are very used to this arrangement, where vehicular traffic have to halt before barriers and red lights, to allow aircraft to take-off or land. It isn’t too much of a hassle, since the airport sees only about a total of 30 flights per week but that is expected to rise exponentially over the years. I hope they have a better arrangement by then.

Right away, we were all whisked to Europa Point, located at the most southerly point of Gibraltar, in hope of having a glimpse of Morocco. Alas, it was too hazy over the waters. We were sorely disappointed but it was alright, there were other sights to see at the viewpoint like the lighthouse, the Harding’s Battery, a mosque and a shrine.

Europa Point is only this large; it didn’t take us all too long to explore the area thoroughly so our tour continued to Upper Rock Nature Reserve. (Update : the name has since been changed to Gibraltar Nature Reserve in 2013).

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Barbary Macaques are native to Gibraltar, and are mostly seen on the Upper Rock. They appear to be tail-less, thanks to evolution, which has deemed tails to be useless to them over the centuries. The sightseeing bus stopped at a site at the Upper Rock so we could come up close and personal with the primates. I even attempted to pose near one to take a picture together, but I have to admit that I chickened out and daren’t go too near. The macaques are wild, after all.

You can see part of the runway in the background of the picture above. It continues to baffle me how Gibraltar operates with a main street running across their only runway. Fascinated, even.

After spending half a day exploring and understanding Gibraltar, we left for lunch before heading for Seville, capital of Andalusia.