#07 Thursday, October 2, 2014, in the Strait of Gibraltar Treaties matter. A combined force of Dutch and English captured Gibraltar, a small but strategically significant rock, from Spain in 1704 during the War of Spanish Succession and the Spanish have been trying to get it back ever since. The rock that commands the narrow, 14 mile wide strait between Europe and Africa, and thus, the entrance and exit of the Mediterranean Sea, was granted “in perpetuity” to Great Britain in the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. The name “Gibraltar” is the Spainishization of “Jabal Tariq” or “Mountain of Tariq” after an Arab general who lead the advance force of North Africans who conquered much of the Iberian Peninsula in the 700s. Spain would very much like to repatriate it’s wayward rock but the place, for good or ill, has been thoroughly Anglicized as evidenced by the results of a referendum a few years ago where residents voted to maintain their connection to Great Britain. Unsurprisingly, the Brits decided to go along with the will of the people. Today, Gibraltar, which is just 2.6 square miles in size, is known as a center of finance, shipping, online gaming and tourism and the strait is one of the busiest in the world. We’ve passed through the strait a couple of times but this is our first stop here. A fair number of people live in Spain and work in Gibraltar so there is quite a rush hour to make the border crossing which, according to our guide, the Spanish make as difficult as possible, frequently causing long lines. There is an international airport and the main road around the rock passes right through the middle of it (fortunately, no landings or take offs while we were traversing it), which was built at the order of Gen. Eisenhower during WWII. Eisenhower & British Gen. Montgomery met here in a tunnel that runs through the middle of the rock to plan the invasion of North Africa, code named “Operation Torch.” So, if Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory why don’t they drive on the left? Well, there were precious few cars in the early automotive days and they frequently crossed into Spain where the locals drove on the right and there being more Spanish drivers the right side won. Among the notable events that have taken place in Gibraltar over the years, in addition to the Eisenhower/Montgomery meeting, are the marriages of John Lennon & Yoko Ono and Sean Connery & whomever he married, twice. If you have not experienced a Flamenco performance it is something I would highly recommend. Flamenco guitar by it self is fantastic and accomplished bailaoras (female Flamenco dancers) dancing to recorded music are a riveting sight but when you put them together it is quite special (and I don’t particularly care for most other dance performances). We had a group of bailaoras on the ship to perform for us to recorded music tonight and, while it was good, it wasn’t the complete real deal. On a pre-cruise trip to Madrid 14 years ago we experienced the whole enchilada (wrong metaphor) with the guitar player, the singer, the clapper and the bailaora. Tomorrow the Costa del Sol port of Malaga. Craig & Char
Posted on: Fri, 03 Oct 2014 16:39:30 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015