Gibraltar has long been a firm favourite with Brits looking for a sun-soaked holiday that doesn’t involve a long flight – but one writer was surprised by what was on offer when they arrived
Stepping on to the baking airport Tarmac, I glance over my shoulder to get my first look at the Rock of Gibraltar. Dramatic and dominating, the great monolith of limestone and shale looms 1,400ft above us, dwarfing even my accommodation here – a 465ft long, 189-room five-star superyacht-hotel.
Lovingly called Gib by the locals, the peninsula is located at the entrance to the Mediterranean, on the southern tip of Spain. Its strategic position has shaped its complex and fascinating history, through the changing hands of multiple nations – it was ceded to Britain in 1713 – and as a vital Second World War Allied stronghold.
Today, Moorish, British, Spanish and Jewish influences come together to create a unique aesthetic, while almost 40,000 locals, many of whom speak a Spanish-English hybrid language called Llanito, live alongside Barbary macaques, Europe’s only wild monkeys.
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We are lucky enough to be staying at the Sunborn Yacht Hotel in the lively Ocean Village Marina, a stone’s throw from the busy town centre.
Azure waters teeming with little fish lap at the moored boats, while holidaymakers chill outside British pubs showing the football highlights. Across the water, almost close enough to touch, and with the airport runway between us, is Spain.
A backdrop of cranes and building sites are evidence of the forward charge of development, with land reclamation around the harbours a huge part of the progress. No time to stop for too long, though, as there’s so much to do on the peninsula – now linked directly to Birmingham with a new easyJet flight – that within a couple of hours of landing we’re on a yellow boat in the nine-mile-wide Strait, between the Rock and the Rif Mountains, watching a friendly pod of dolphins play and leap around us while our tour guide points out the calves.
Dinner that evening is at a popular spot called Bianca’s, only a few feet from where the Dolphin Adventure vessel is moored. We are delighted to tuck into pil pil gambas and a dish called The Swimming Cow – surf and turf, Gibraltar style.
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Following a buffet breakfast the next morning, we head up the winding roads to St Michael’s Cave, in the Upper Rock Nature Reserve. Our jaws hit the floor and we enter the magnificent grotto, gazing awestruck at the enormous stalactites and stalagmites that dominate the vast cavern, illuminated by a multicoloured light show.
Long imagined to be bottomless, the Ancient Greeks believed these cathedral-like halls to be the entrance of Hades, while a popular Gibraltar legend tells that the caves connected Gibraltar to Africa, allowing underwater passage to the famous macaques.
Emerging blinking and stunned, we venture to the World War II Tunnels, a tourist experience that takes us right into the heart of the Rock, meandering through winding passages that were carved into the limestone by the military. The instant emotional wallop of the soldiers’ graffiti etched into the rock leaves me with a lump in my throat.
A hefty £3million private investment has allowed head of development Christian Wright to vastly improve the experience, making it more accessible, dynamic and interactive. Wright is personally committed to ensuring that the overlooked story of his fellow Gibraltarians is told, using local artefacts, accounts and photos. Referenced along the way, in a recognition that truth is stranger than fiction, is James Bond creator Ian Fleming who played a role in Operation Goldeneye – a plan to secure communication and intelligence in Gibraltar.
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Up the cable car we go next for a six-minute ascent, this time bound for the impressive Skywalk, which is great for monkey lovers. The macaques are synonymous with Gibraltar and the 10 groups are managed with love and respect.
But tourists be warned: they can be aggressive and will snatch a snack (first hand witness here), so keep it well hidden. Feeding the monkeys is punishable with a substantial fine, so don’t be tempted.
We learn even more about our primate cousins when we meet with primatologist Brian Gomila of Monkey Talk – Gibraltar for a fascinating in-depth study of monkey behaviour, lucking out when we see a week old baby, clinging to its mum.
Dinner is at The Lounge on the Queensway Quay Marina later, which offers a gorgeous setting and classic, elegant dishes.
A private tour of the derelict Northern Defences, used as a fortress in the war, is an eye-opening exploration led by architect Carl Viagas. Carl, whose passion for the project is clear, is renovating the labyrinth of caves into a considerably impressive visitor attraction – in his words he’s “defending the defences”. The attraction is set to open in summer 2026.
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Gibraltar Museum provides further insight into the multilayered history of the peninsula, particularly “Nana and Flint”, a Neanderthal grandma and her grandson, tenderly portrayed via two life-sized forensic reconstructions.
Some of the last people of these archaic humans occupied the Goram’s cave complex on the southeastern side of the peninsula, and the caves are considered of such great importance that they are now combined into a Unesco World Heritage site.
Gin tasting rounds off day three at award-winning Spirit of the Rock’s microbrewery, with seven gins to taste (hic) and a romp through the history of the spirit to boot.
Thankfully clear headed for our final day, we embark on an extremely fun e-bike tour of the Lower Rock. The route sees us pass a beach where the sand was imported from the Sahara, visit the Botanical Gardens where we see ancient dragon trees, ride by an impressive mosque donated by King Fahd of Saudi Arabia, pass in and out of the ever-present Rock through various winding tunnels, and, thrillingly, cross the airport runway, bringing our exploration of Gibraltar to a close.
Was Gibraltar what I expected? The answer, unequivocally, is certainly not. Despite its small size, it delivers some memories.
Book the holiday
- easyJet flies from Birmingham to Gibraltar starting at £26.99 one-way. easyjet.com
- easyJet holidays offers four nights’ B&B at the Sunborn Gibraltar yacht-hotel from £584pp with Birmingham flights on October 12. easyjet.com/en/holidays
- More info at visitgibraltar.gi
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