Thanks to the logo of the Prudential Insurance Company ("Get
a Piece of the Rock.") many Americans imagine Gibraltar to be
an island. It isn't.
It's the tip of a narrow peninsula on which stands the famous
1,400-foot-high chunk of Jurassic limestone, symbol of strength
and stability. Bare on one side but largely covered with wild
olive trees, petal cactus and other vegetation everywhere else,
the Rock of Gibraltar is believed to have been formed by the collision
of the Eurasian and African tectonic plates some 55 million years
ago.
In 1848 the skull of an ancient woman was discovered at the
foot of the steep northern face. Eight years later a similar skull
was found in the Neander Valley near Duesseldorf in Germany. Gibraltarians
argue that based on the timing of the discoveries the species
of homo sapiens represented in the finds should have been dubbed
Gibraltar Woman instead of Neanderthal Man.
The Greeks referred to the Rock of Gibraltar as Calpe, meaning
vessel or ship. Along with Mont Abyla in Morocco it formed the
Pillars of Hercules, western boundary of the known world. The
nearby Straits of Gibraltar, between Spain and Africa, connect
the Mediterranean Sea with the Atlantic Ocean.
Various theories exist as to the origins of the name Gibraltar.
The most likely involves the Muslim invasion of Europe from North
Africa. In 711 A.D., the Berber chief Tarik Ibn Ziyad established
a fortress on Calpe, renaming it Jebal Tarik (one of several spellings),
which means "mountain of Tarik" in Arabic. Jebal Tarik presumably
morphed into Gibraltar.
The Moors dominated Gibraltar for seven centuries. Spain controlled
the Rock mainly from 1462 until the early 1700s. Anglo-Dutch forces
captured the territory in 1704 during the War of Spanish Succession,
and the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht ceded it permanently to Britain.
Spain tried and failed to recapture Gibraltar during a series
of bloody sieges in the 18th century.
Today a grudging acceptance prevails between Spain and Britain
over Gibraltar. Starting in 1969 the Spanish dictator Franco closed
the border entirely for 13 years, and it remained closed to motor
vehicles for another three. Spain sometimes still enforces lengthy
delays for cars crossing into Gibraltar. The border sees about
4 million crossings each year, many of them Spaniards who live
in the border town of La Linea and commute to jobs in the British
territory.
In recent years Spain has proposed sharing sovereignty over
Gibraltar, but the Gibraltarians won't hear of it. In 2002 nearly
99 percent of them voted against a referendum on shared sovereignty.
The celebration of the tricentennial of British rule last August
4 culminated in an estimated 17,000 of the colony's 30,000 citizens
holding hands for 15 minutes in forming a human chain around their
Rock.
Gibraltar covers only about 2 ½ square miles, and flat land
is so scarce that almost half of the runway at the tiny Gibraltar
airport extends out into the bay. The only road into town runs
directly across the runway, and traffic has to be halted during
landings and takeoffs.
English is the official language, but everyone speaks Spanish
too. The ethnic origins of residents are a mix of British, Spanish,
Genoese, Maltese, Portuguese and German. The largest religious
group by far is Roman Catholic, but there are members of the Church
of England, Sephardic Jews, Muslims and Hindus. Everyone co-exists
peacefully.
Gibraltar gained fame in 1969 as he site of the wedding of John
Lennon and Yoko Ono, an event immortalized in the Beatles' "Ballad
of John and Yoko." The story goes that the couple was frustrated
in attempts to wed at sea (aboard a ferry to the European mainland)
or in Paris; they didn't have passports. As the lyrics recall,
"Peter Brown," who worked in Lennon's office, "called to say,
you can make it OK, you can get married in Gibraltar near Spain."
Lennon, being a British citizen, didn't need a passport to get
married in Gibraltar.
At a store in the town of Gibraltar you can buy a framed copy
of Lennon and Ono's marriage certificate with photos of the couple
arriving at the Gibraltar airport. Price: about $55.
(January 2005)
