Day trips to Gibraltar, Cadiz

English?British? Spanish? Spanglish? This controversial colony is situated on the South West coast that joins the Atlantic to the pacific. For this reason it is notorious for its British weather! It is only 5km long and 1.6m high. You enter through the Spanish town of La Linea, there is a border control; Europe of not. Therefore you must make sure you carry your passport. Spanish and European ID cards are not accepted.

The population of Gibraltar speak Spanish and English or a mixture of both! Gibraltar has also got a high Jewish population, unlike the rest of Spain!!

Remember that Gibraltar is a British Colony so they don’t use the Euro, so instead you’ll have to change your money for the Gibraltar pound! Well actually in most places the Euro is accepted and you can choose which currency to take out the bank.

You’ll find all the usual British shops in Gibraltar including Mothercare and Marks and Spencer. You can also eat all the English food you want and enjoy a nice pint (for example John Smith’s).

An important thing to remember is that they use the British style three pin plugs with 240v.

Things to do and see.

Europa Point. This is where Europe ends. You can look across to the mountains of Morocco. Also located there is an interesting looking Mosque which is supposed to be the largest in a non Islamic country.

Gibraltar Monkeys. For more info on the Gibraltar monkeys that live wild up the Rock at Apes Den, check out my Gibraltar monkey tip.

St Michael’s Cave This is a magnificent natural cave that Neolithic men once lived in. Now a day it is used for concerts and plays, though it is also wonderful just to take a look around. There are stalagmites and stalactites that hang from the ceiling and protrude from the ground. It’s very large so even if you are a little claustrophobic you should be Ok.

Did you know that they close of Gibraltar high Street and use it as a run way for planes!!! Isn’t that incredible!

The Gibralter monkeys are almost human!!!

The Barbary Macaques monkeys are the only wild primates in Europe (apart from us humans of course!). They were probably introduced in the 18th century from North Africa. These days they live of donations from the tourists of junk food. For this reason, they have become fat and greedy. Be careful they WILL steal food from you.

If you would like to pay them a visit you can find them at Apes Den which is halfway up the rock. You can get there by cable car, car or bus. They are very near St. Michael’s Cave on Queen’s Road.