At the most southerly tip of Gibraltar, Europa Point, is the well known
landmark of the lighthouse.
Operated by Trinity House, this was until recently one of the
last manned lighthouses.
One of the largest tourist attractions are the famous Gibraltar Apes,
actually monkeys. The legend is that the Rock will remain British
as long as they are around. During the war their numbers declined, and Winston Churchill
issued instructions that they should be regularly fed and looked after. Today the population is expanding, so it looks like the future is secure.
Gibraltar joined the EC under the British treaty of accession.
So we like flying the European flag along with ours.
This seems to upset the Government of the Kingdom of Spain (who joined later) and they seem pre-occupied with trying to harass Gibraltar.
There was a major difference of opinion about the inclusion of the local airport into the EU Air liberalisation agreement, which has restricted the development of the airport.
Originally there were two methods of entry to the town area, via
waterport, and via Landport.
This is the latter entrance which
is a tunnel with stout gates and a drawbridge which was raised at
night. This was recently refurbished by the Royal Engineers (founded
in Gibraltar in 1772) and is in working condition.
The history of Gibraltar is that of a military base, but the empahsis today is on the finance Center. Bankers have replaced Soldiers and the RAF, and most of HM Navy have
left. In 1988 the IRA planned to set off a large car bomb to blow up the Army band which
marched down Main Street each week. The chosen spot was outside Hambros bank, where the bandsmen assembled, and is car parking space. It is also next to a large school and a Jewish old peoples home. Fortunately the attempt was foiled.
Despite signing the Treaty of Utrecht, under which the territory was ceeded to the British in perpetuity, the Spanish repeatedly laid seige to the rock and as a result
the defending British developed a range of weapons to defend the territory. Although today there are a number of more recent cannon around town made of wood and fibreglass, there are also plenty of genuine ones too, like this example perched high up the rock..
The people of Gibraltar have a wide ethnic base and with this comes a range of religious beliefs. We are all rightfully proud of the fact that there is peaceful co-existance between the different religions.
