The crew at Europa Point. From the left: Paal André Slette, Peter T.M. Brandt, Sebastian G. Winther-Larsen and Henrik Hartmann.
Three days ago Paal André Slette was added to the crew of S/Y CoCo. The morning after Paal André embarked we left for Gibraltar and arrived just after sunset the same day. The harbours in Gibraltar itself did not have room for us, so we opted for a spanish port literally ten metres from the border.
Europa Point in sight.
The British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar is an interesting case, in the honest and very biased opinion of the author of this post, and a short history lesson will follow. Consider yourself warned.
Evidence of Neanderthal habitation in Gibraltar between 28000 and 24000 BC, but in modern history the first inhabitants where the Phoenicians. Gibraltar was later part of the Visigothic kingdom until the Islamic conquest of Iberia in 711 AD. In 1160 AD Almohad sultan Abd al-Mu’min had a permanent settlement built, called Medinat al-Fath. From 1274 and onwards the town was fought over, captured, bought and sold by numerous kings, dukes and other warlords of several nationalities. In 1704, during the Spanish war of succession, Gibraltar was captured by a combined Anglo-Dutch fleet on behalf of Archduke Charles of Austria in his campaign to become king of Spain. The treaty of Utrecht ceded control of Gibraltar to the British Empire in 1713 for perpetuity in order to secure Britain’s withdrawal from the war. Attempts where made by the Spanish to regain Gibraltar, most notably through The Great Siege of Gibraltar that lasted from 1779 to 1783. Gibraltar has subsequently been a somewhat difficult subject in Anglo-Spanish relations. Movement to and from Gibraltar was restricted by Spain from the 1950s and the border was completely closed from 1969 and until 1982. Talks on the matter have been difficult as the Spanish government does not regcognise the Gibraltarian government. Britain has committed itself to respecting the Gibraltarians’ wishes which are very clear – Spanish sovereignty was rejected in a 2002 referendum by an overwhelming majority of 98 %.
Gibraltar harbour. The ship berthed to the right is bound for Sierra Leone with 800 health personnel, several field hospitals and 20 Toyotas.
For the crew of S/Y CoCo Gibraltar was a relief from the language barrier Spain has proven itself to be. Here we found British pubs, British phone booths, British-English accents and British street signs. Even the markings on the asphalt is the same as any typical British town. The main currency is the Gibraltar pound which is pegged to the British pound sterling. Gibraltar has a population of around 30000 on an area of just 6.8 square kilometres and it’s economy is governed by four main sectors: financial services, gambling, tourism and shipping. The British military has historically dominated Gibraltar’s economy, but this has diminished over the years to around 7 % of GDP today.
British phone booth.
British ale and one of the frequent customers of “The Angry Friar”.
Europa Point with a lighthouse and mosque in the foreground and The Rock in the background.
A central part of Gibraltar’s geography is the Rock of Gibraltar which rises 426 metres into the air. The Rock itself consists of limestone and has been turned into a fortress with a labyrinthine web of tunnels amounting to a total length of 48 km. An interesting creature that inhabits The Rock is the Barbary macaque. The macaques rely in great part on humans for food and can be very naughty if you happen to be holding a bar of chocolate in your hand.
St. Michael’s Cave.
St. George’s Hall.
Young macaque accepting a bottle of sparkling water and a ticket to tour St. Michael’s cave.
Macaque cleaning time.
The Gibraltar International Jazz Festival was in it’s warm-up days when we arrived and we were able to enjoy a great jam session at the O’Callaghan Elliot Hotel before heading back to CoCo to plan for our passage through the strait and along the Moroccan coast.
Jazz jam at the O’Callaghan Elliot hotel.
Caribbean Expedition 2015 