Rule Britania

 



There are only eight countries that still have colonies, with a total of 61 colonies shared between them.   The top three are France with 16, Britain with 15 and the USA with 14. The British colonies are no longer called Crown Colonies.  Since the British Overseas Territories Act of 2002; they are now known as British Overseas Territories, hence the name of the act.

 

 Gibraltar, a three hundred year old British Crown Colony was the fifth stop on our Trans-Atlantic cruise experience.

 

 

 

 

 

To quote Wikipedia, “An Anglo-Dutch force captured Gibraltar from the Kingdom of Castile in 1704 during the War of the Spanish Succession on behalf of the Habsburg pretender to the Spanish throne. The territory was subsequently ceded to Britain “in perpetuity” under the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713” and continues to this day.

As a British Overseas Territory, the inhabitants of Gibraltar govern their own affairs except for defense and foreign affairs and have rejected any notion of becoming part of Spain. This state of affairs has been a bone of contention in Anglo-Spanish relations for the last 300 years and probably for the next 300.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gibraltar is 6.8 square kilometres in size. It shares a 1.2 kilometre land border with Spain. This land border also doubles as the runway for Gibraltar International Airport.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We arrived around noon with a clear day and were rewarded with a nice unobstructed look at the “Rock”. 

 

 

The “Rock” as it is affectionately known reaches a height of 426 metres.

 

 

Tourism is a huge part of the Rocks economy along with finance and internet gaming.  Of course, British tourists make up a large part of visitors coming to the Rock. To be frank, if Gibraltar were part of Spain, their limited attractions would pale next to the many attractions available in Spain.  Cute monkey pictures are a dime a dozen. Although this one of a Barbary  Monkey is sooooooo cute. 

 

  

 

And Nonie has been ignored by better monkeys than this. But isn't he/she sooooo cute. These particular monkeys have been around for a few million years and roamed much of Southern Europe but are only found in Gibraltar now.

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

St. Michaels Cave. Hohum. Nice acoustics but a little damp.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Much of Gibraltar’s history is military and late in the 18^th century work begin on siege tunnels that now honeycomb the Rock.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The tunnels were extended and enlarged during World War II. The deep tunnels could protect the cannon from any enemy fire. Highly doubtful they would stand up to todays fire power.

 

 

 

 

 

The cannons provided protection to the surrounding areas allowing the British uninterrupted use of the port for the last three hundred years.

  

 

 

 

  

The siege tunnels now provide protection to the airport located at the north end of the Rock. The access road from Spain crosses the runway and must be shut down several times a day to accommodate arriving and departing flights. 

 

 

 

The day ended with a pint in one of the dozens of English style pubs, watching Man U defeat Arsenal and embracing the free Wi-Fi. It was really a wonderful stop and as we are only an hour away in Spain, I suspect we may be back with a sister.

 

 

 

 

 

One more day at sea before our cruise ends in Barthelona, Barthelona, Barthelona. Lots of hill work today so I may double down on deserts tonight.