1717 ll about 17 1719 A Gibraltar Vol. 9 Issue 207 www.theolivepress.es February 19th - March 4th 2015 AT WORLD’S END: It’s 30 years since Gibraltar’s frontier reopened after Europa point at Gibraltar’s southern a 16-year nightmare and the Spanish are still up to tip is a stunning mix their old borderline tricks but what a difference three of old and new decades make, reports Rob Horgan S I tailgated a silver Renault Megane on a slow crawl to the Gibral- tar border, I cursed my luck for landing at the back of a 35-minute queue. Frustrating as it might have been, the queues however, are a good Adeal better than they were a year ago… not to mention three decades ago when the Gibraltarians were unable to cross the frontier at all. When Spanish dictator General Franco closed the land border between The times Gibraltar and Spain in 1969, he divided families and friendships at a stroke. Gibraltarians were cut off from loved ones in La Linea, as were Span- iards with relatives on the Rock. For 16 long years an entire generationn were forced to communicate by shouting through the border gates. They shared their joys, sorrows and glimpses of their new-born babies through cold iron bars. When Franco died in 1975, Gibraltarians hoped their enforced incarcera- they are a- tion would end but extraordinarily, it wasn’t for another 10 years - on Feb- ruary 5, 1985 - that the border gates fi nally swung open. The frontier is inextricably linked to the Rock’s past and present and prob- ably its foreseeable future too but get over it - there’s a lot more to see when you do! My tip is to avoid taking your car in at all. You don’t even need to join the queue, as Gibraltar is easily walkable, given moderate fi tness (and there is always the Number 5 bus from the border to the centre costing just a Turn to Page 19 changin’ Photo by Tom Powell Marble Arc 18 the olive press - February 19th - March 4th www.theolivepress.es Visit the locals. Visit Gibraltar and you’ll find so much to smile about. Spend time dining al fresco, or merely enjoying a coffee or a drink, watching the world go by, and you’ll know you’ve left your world behind you. Feeling adventurous? Explore the heritage of the Rock – there really is so much to discover. And with world class concerts and festivals, and a full calendar of events, you’ll have more than enough to keep you happy. GIBRALTAR TOURIST BOARD United Kingdom e: [email protected] t: +44 (0) 207 836 0777 @visit_gibraltar facebook.com/visitgibraltar www.theolivepress.es the olive press - February 19th - March 4th 19 Gibraltar special 19 www.theolivepress.es February 19th - March 4th 2015 Home away from home From Page 17 spot with cafes overlooked by shopping artery, is a home back when. the Rock’s jagged limestone away from home for British ex- Meanwhile a pound). silhouette. pats and holidaymakers with hike up the Indeed, one of the surreal at- At this point, there are three its Marks & Spencer, Topshop Rock – not tractions is crossing Europe’s principal options: take on Main and British Home Stores. for the faint- shortest airport runway - the Street; conquer the Rock sum- Recognisable international hearted – af- only way into town for both mo- mit; or circumnavigate it (by retail names are interspersed fords amaz- torists and pedestrians. car or on foot) to its southern- with those of quirky local em- ing views Passing Victoria Park football most tip to see what lies be- poria - Seruya, Stagnetto and over the bor- stadium and you’ll soon arrive yond (Africa). Marble Arc - and other mer- der to the La in Casemates Square, a lively Main Street, the eponymous chant traders established way Linea road, which snakes down through the Spanish countryside towards the frontier. Although the cable car is a much easier route to the PATRIOTIC: Steps to the top of the rock summit, trudging up the back roads on foot offers a more far- bary macaques. From here, you can look down reaching glimpse into Gibral- Atop the Rock, the monkeys at the coloured apartment tar’s military past. run the show. They know how blocks rising up like stalag- A number of abandoned batter- to open tourists’ backpacks in mites from the lower Rock, ies scream out to be explored, search of food, they love wreck- and the construction cranes at alongside tours of the WWII ing car aerials and one of the work building new ones, a time- and Great Siege tunnels. younger macaques - buzz off - ly reminder of how far Gibraltar Just in front of the entrance to seems to be showing too much has come in the 30 years since the WWII tunnels is a plaque interest in my specs. the border reopened. commemorating the day, in Panic over! They’re a friendly Time to start my descent, it 1954, that HRH Queen Eliza- bunch if you don’t let them get would be easier to hitch a ride beth and the Duke of Edin- too familiar. Just being with on the cable car but the Medi- burgh stood and looked out them up here is supremely terranean steps are far more over one of cool, as is the view across san- impressive. Staked out by in- Britain’s most dy Catalan Bay quisitive Barbary apes which famous over- to Morocco. refuse to budge, this stairway seas territo- The Union Jack with But it’s time to heaven and back zig-zags ries. the red and white to move on to down the front of the Rock’s It was a long banner of Gibraltar St Michael’s face, offering spectacular time ago. But would make any Brit Cave. views. Built by the British Army standing here, With one mil- as a means of reaching several watching Gi- proud lion visitors military points, the crumbling braltarians each year, this staircase was restored in 2007 kicking a foot- underground to offer safer passage to fi tness ball in distant Victoria Stadium, gallery cre- fans who enjoy taking the Med the Union Jack fl apping in time ated by rainwater erosion is the Steps Challenge. Chief Minister with the red and white banner most visited of the 150 caves Fabian Picardo and his wife of Gibraltar, is enough to make inside the Rock. A 100-seater Justine are among them! even the most unpatriotic of auditorium sits in the centre Back in town, having given LEGACY: Admiral Nelson’s statue and (inset) the Victualling Yard he frequented Brits proud. of the largest cave. Its natural the last monkey the slip (not This is merely a stop-off for a acoustics make it the ideal con- including fellow Olive Press breather on my voyage to the cert venue and it has hosted all reporter Tom Powell), my fi nal top of the Rock, a series of kinds of events, including the port of call is Europa point. seemingly never-ending hills Miss Gibraltar beauty pageant. The site of the future university, Pocket of patriotism that begin to take their toll on The next stop on my round-trip also earmarked for a 8,000-ca- the backs of my calves. checklist is the Moorish Castle. pacity football stadium, this Admiral Nelson’s legacy in Gibraltar lies beyond cemetery walls Then, just when the thought of The Union Jack fl ying above its wild open beauty spot is sym- a cold beer back in Ocean Vil- battlements is another remind- bolic of the dramatic transfor- DESPITE its name, Trafalgar Cemetery is While most of those that died at Trafalgar lage seems too tempting to ig- er of Gibraltarian patriotic fer- mation going on in Gibraltar, home to just two victims of 1805’s almighty were buried at sea, Admiral Nelson’s body nore, I’m jolted back to reality vour while the cannons still in which has one of the most battle. was being transported back to London for by a bunch of Gibraltar’s most place underscore its amazing upwardly mobile economies in Instead, many tombstones commemorate a state funeral and burial at St Paul’s cathe- famous residents… the Bar- military history. the world - some 10% growth those who died in three devastating yellow dral. last year alone - and is spend- fever epidemics around the same time. However, he was initially taken to Gibral- ing its riches accordingly. Nonetheless, this tiny pocket of Gibraltar tar’s Rosia Bay, in his ship HMS Victory, As leader Picardo so rightly still radiates patriotism. Its moss-covered where his body was put in a vat of rum to said recently, echoing the lyrics graves and low-hanging branches could conserve it, before being sent to the UK. of Bob Dylan: ‘The times they tempt anyone in for a moment of refl ection But the connection goes deeper, before his are a-changin’.’ while en-route to the cable car. heroic death Nelson would have been a reg- With annual international mu- The cemetery – originally known as South- ular on the Rock, especially at naval haunts sic and literary festivals attract- port Ditch Cemetery – was abandoned for like the Victualling Yard and Old Naval ing the world’s top artists, the many years until a huge restoration effort in Hospital. Rock has carved out a place the 1980s. And it was his close friend Aaron Cardozo for itself on Europe’s cultural Each year on the Sunday closest to the bat- – a wealthy Gibraltarian merchant – who calendar, too.