In exteme southern Spain sits a bit of merry olde England. Gibraltar, Prudential’s “piece of the rock” and one of the Pillars of Hercules, guards the opening to the Med. Despite the collapse of the empire, Great Britain retains a tight hold on this strategic piece of real estate. The 30,000 residents are equally divided among Brits, Moroccans and Spaniards.
Spaniards, Moroccans and Brits
The Rock is the British colonies’ best attraction – with a stupendous view and quirky monkeys. The limestone massif is nearly a mile long, rising 1,400 feet in the air with very sheer faces. According to legend, Gibraltar and Djebel Musa, another mountain peak in the strait of Morocco were known as the Pillars of Hercules, marking the edge of the known world in ancient times. Locals claim that this is the only place on the planet where you can see two seas and two continents at the same time, weather permitting of course.
On Charles V's Wall
One can hike both up and down to see the views. Or one can take the cable car, a smarter choice. After taking the requisite photos we walked down through the nature reserve, past artillery batteries from two world wars, stopping to take pictures of Gibraltar’s “apes.” They are actually monkeys, Barbary macaques, not apes, despite being tail-less. Legend has it that as long as the monkeys remain here, so will the Brits, so when the monkey population was waning, Winston Churchill made a point of importing reinforcements. The population today is a healthy (if belligerent) two hundred.
Barbary macaques, still going strong
We cheated a bit on the walk down, using the stairs along “Charles V’s Wall” to cut off several of the switchbacks. By the time we reached town it was packed with tour groups and visitors from Spain taking advantage of the duty free shops.
