The Spanish government are causing problems about border crossings both ways because they really want Britain to give Gibraltar to Spain and some people in cars are waiting up to 10 hours to go through border inspection. We had therefore decided to walk through, but found it easy to drive at the time we wanted to go into Gibraltar, which was very fortunate as it would be impossible to see the country by foot, even though it is only seven square miles in total. The massive rock occupies most of the territory and most people and businesses are on the west side, but it is possible to drive right around the perimeter of the country, which means you can drive around the rock. There are about 30,000 people living there (mostly British) and about 10,000 Spanish cross the border each day to work, mostly doing the menial jobs.
Bob, Greg and I were all quite disappointed about how shabby and run-down most areas are, as though no one really cares about keeping Gibraltar beautiful and clean. The marina areas have some very ordinary restaurants and British sports bars, not even with a view of the water and there was rubbish lying around along the roads on the southern and western sides of the rock. Most of the large apartment blocks are ugly apart from a few newer ones near the marinas but we did find some attractive smaller apartment complexes at the southern end as we drove up towards the top of the rock. Land is too scarce for people to have houses, although we did see a couple. We were going to take the cable car up the rock but Richard and Anne had already done that and advised us against it because of all of the rubbish around that area too. The book shop in Main Street had only about 30 titles in multiple copies and most of the shops are for duty-free buying of wine and spirits, cigarettes and perfume, because Gibraltar is a tax-free zone.
Richard and Anne were staying at Hotel Culetta on the eastern side, overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, and we joined them there for dinner, sitting outside on the balcony part of the restaurant. The hotel exterior needs restoration but the main areas inside are very tastefully decorated and the restaurant was outstanding, serving excellent Italian meals. I loved my minestrone soup (vegetables at last!) and boned quail stuffed with wild mushrooms and Greg enjoyed veal carpaccio followed by home-made gnocchi with tomato sauce.
Our trip back to the boat should have only been a 5-10 minute drive, but the Spanish border officers were delaying traffic again by pulling aside many cars to inspect the interior and the boot, so our trip took about an hour. It was worth the wait to have toured Gibraltar by car but it must be horrible for those who have to go back and forth each day.