Gibraltar from La Linea

Having anchored off La Linea, just north of the Spanish border with Gibraltar, the first thing we (Nicky) did was the laundry. The second thing we did was plan a trip across to Gibraltar to buy the largest piece of Stilton cheese we could lay our hands on.

For a daily fee of €5 we found we could land our dinghy at the marina at La Linea. We could have moved BV into the marina at La Linea but the weather was settled, we wanted to save our pennies for the potentially exorbitant mooring fees in the western Med (we are told that in Italy charges of around €100 per day in July and August not unusual) and we had loads of water and food still on board. Marinas can be a bit soulless as well so it seemed better to enjoy our time at anchor. It was also fun being in the middle of an ever-changing collection of cruising yachts in the anchorage. Taking the dinghy ashore to a pontoon mooring with the bikes was all relatively painless too.

We visited the enormous Carrefour supermarket at La Linea and then cycled across the border into Gibraltar where there is a large Morrisons supermarket.

San Simon smoked cheese; more Madonna than Queen Esther!    

It’s funny what you miss when you are away from home. For us, whilst we have been in Spain, it has been the large variety of cheeses available back home.

We like the smoked San Simon and the aged Manchego but after that the choice tends to just consist of Tetilla ‘titty cheese’ and young Manchegos, both of which we have found to be rather bland. The Tetilla is apparently shaped like the medieval Spanish Queen Esther’s perfect breasts; I don’t think that English cheese makers would bestow the same ‘honour’ even if they were seeking By Royal Appointment status.

The trip to Morrisons was a success and we are now the proud owners of seriously large chunk of Stilton. We also got some more teabags, just in case we run out. Perhaps time for us to admit that we appear to be hoarders as, amongst other things, we now have over 750 teabags onboard BV, ‘just in case’!

We’ve had a great laugh whizzing backwards and forwards between Spain and Gibraltar. It’s pretty efficient for the likes of us, walking or pedal biking across, but for cars it can be a bit of a drama around rush hour. The cars just have to wait in long queues whilst we cut past them on our folding bikes feeling slightly smug. Sounds simple but the reality is that scooters are king here. They can do the cutting between the lines of traffic that we can but they also get to do intimidating engine revving as well. At peak times, as everyone gets closer to the border, the lanes merge into one; one for cars and one for scooters/pedal bikes. The local view on this is that one lane= 1 ½ lanes which equals a serious opportunity to overtake! Packed in like sardines the barest hint of movement ahead prompts frantic moped engine revving... I thought about taking a picture… but then the scooter on my right hand side would have got the advantage and overtaken me. Not an inch can be lost nor a gap missed lest an opportunity to save five seconds slips though one’s fingers. As a point of honour we played the game. I was particularly pleased when the scooter on my right, which had been trying to gain advantage by pinning me down by running over my shoes laces, lost it and had a slight moment of scooter-rage as I squeezed ahead of him by 10 cm. This was spotted by the super-vigilant Border Control chaps and, as I had kept my cool, he was held up for questioning. Score: 15-Love folding bikes to scooters.

Landport

Coming into Gibraltar on foot or by bike you travel a little over 1km across the runway and the reclaimed land around what was the isthmus before you are fed over a drawbridge (now static) and in through the Landport city gate. Originally this was the only way into the city other than by boat. It really helps to set the scene with the thick city walls and gun positions right in front of you whilst from several hundred feet above you are overlooked by the Tower of Homage at the Moorish Castle built in 1333.








There is no getting around the fact that Gibraltar has been fought over since at least 711 and has been a huge fortified garrison changing hands between the Islamic invaders from the south until 1462, the Spanish, and then the British since 1704. That said, our travel guide emphasises that Gibraltar has been British longer than the United States has been American. Everywhere you look is there is the military influence with city walls, gates and batteries for guns dating back hundreds of years.

The Governor’s Residence on the left and, on the right, Southport Gate from 1883

Statue of Lord Nelson and the Trafalgar Cemetery 

There is also no getting away from the influence of Lord Nelson and the 1805 Battle of Trafalgar. Nelson used Gibraltar as a base from which to chase the French fleet and his body was brought to Gibraltar on HMS Victory after the battle before being returned to Britain, apparently in a barrel of brandy. Casualties from the battle were treated in the hospital here and those that subsequently died of their wounds were buried in the Trafalgar Cemetery by the southern city wall.

 

Prawns Pil Pil and cool beers at the Star Bar

We couldn’t help but be intrugued by all of this history on our doorstep. Over a very pleasant lunch, slightly off the beaten track in what claims to be the oldest pub in Gibraltar, we hatched  a plan. We wanted to spend longer in Gibraltar than we had expected to but to comfortably explore the whole of the Upper Rock Nature Reserve and not waste time running backwards and forwards from Spain we really needed to move BV to Gibraltar. It would also allow us to top up the water and fuel tanks. The only drama was finding a marina berth. Queensway Quay, the quiet marina, is nearly always full and the alternative at Marina Bay pulses to the sound of excessively loud music until the early hours.

We asked at Queensway Quay and were initially told that there was no room. However, amazingly whilst we were there the phone rang and there was a cancellation which made space for us. We have therefore moved into the marina. In some ways it is a shame, as the anchorage at La Linea was a great place to watch the yacht and ship movements in and out of Gibraltar Bay. However, our current base is far better for exploring ‘The Rock’ and has the added advantage that we can top up the water tanks easily, though from now on until we leave the Med water is metered and paid for by the litre.

Shipping in Gibraltar Bay