Europe, Gibraltar

The Monkey rocks Gibraltar

No Comments 7 August 2010

The Monkey rocks Gibraltar

The Monkey visited Gibraltar, the British overseas territory at the mouth of the Mediterranean, in May of 1996. He spent only a brief time there, mostly in scaling the mass of the famous Rock of Gibraltar, where he encountered some primate relatives.


The Rock of Gibraltar
The Monkey and the Rock.

Ape on the Rock, Gibraltar
The Monkey encounters one of the so-called Gibraltar apes that inhabit part of the Rock’s slope. These barbary macaques are the only wild primates in Europe, and a superstition holds that once they disappear, so too will British control of Gibraltar.

Far below you can make out some of Gibraltar’s docks and a ship heading out to sea.

Apes warning, Gibraltar
A multilingual warning sign up on the Rock. Behind the Monkey you can just make out a bit of the town of Gibraltar itself, which the Monkey only stopped in long enough for a pub lunch and a pint. Technically, the Monkey is not an ape, so you don’t need to worry about feeding him, except for the fact that he can be a bit of a food snob.

Apes on the Rock, Gibraltar
The Monkey gets into the swing of things with a pair of the Gibraltar apes.

Queen visit sign, Gibraltar
The Monkey spots a bit of (almost illegible in this photo) Gibraltar curiosity. The plaque reads:

On this site H.M. Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh together with their Royal Highnesses Princess Anne and Prince Charles made friends with the apes on the 10th May 1954.

The Rock of Gibraltar
Another view of the Rock of Gibraltar, which has a British military installation on top used for monitoring the Mediterranean. The tarmac behind the Monkey is actually Gibraltar’s airstrip, which you must cross between airplanes to enter the town.

Diving for cover, Gibraltar
The Monkey dives for cover as a rather large ape gets a little too close for comfort.



This Monkey adventure has been viewed 126 times since the 2010 website relaunch.

Gibraltar (British Overseas Territory)

   FAST FACTS


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 Population:

28,002 (2008)

 Land area:

6.5 sq. km.

 Capital:

Gibraltar (local internal administration) and London (foreign affairs, defense, and some economic policy)

 Economy:

In 2006, Gibraltar ranked 169th in total GDP, with per capita data unavailable. Public debt accounts for 15.7 percent of total GDP, while no figure for the number of Gibraltarians beneath the poverty line is available. No ranking is available for Gibraltar in the UNDP Human Development Index.

 Main language(s):

English

 Monkey's name:

The Monkey

 Fun fact:

In Gibraltar, the historical use of the Spanish language combined with the later arrival of the English language has resulted in another variation of the phenomenom known as Spanglish: many Gibraltarians speak a Spanish-English hybrid they call Llanito. One particularly cute Llanito phrase is “dar un ring,” which uses the Spanish “dar” (to give) and the oh-so-English “ring” and means “to telephone someone.”
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