Day 62 – 9 September 2023 – Gibraltar, the rock of and Torremolinos, Espana

Another early start as we drive through the mountainous national park of southern Spain to the Spanish city of Algeciris. The massive rock of Gibraltar looms into view as we near Algeciris, the rock certainly towers above the surrounding landscape. The bus drops us off just inside the Spanish border & there is a massive line of people queued up to cross into Gibraltar. Chad talks to one of the border guards, apparently all these people are British citizens wanting to cross the Spanish border into Gibraltar. We are not British so we are ushered past this massive line-up of people to go through the no-British control – we are the only ones there so we go through Passport control easily. There were a lot of people in the large queue that were not happy & wanted to follow us, but the Spanish guard told them to get back into the line. Apparently, since Britain has left the European Union all these border controls have been put in place.

We meet our local guide Derek & we split into two groups, the 20 seat bus is old & uncomfortable, however, we soon find out why we need a small bus. Firstly we drive under the airport runway, a new tunnel has been built, previously all traffic drove across the runway using traffic lights when planes took off & landed. The streets are very narrow in Gibraltar & even this small bus has challenges making its way along the streets & around the corners. We are taken past all the old walls, gates & battlements that were used to defend the city over centuries of battles. Pouring out of a cliff is a waterfall that we are surprised to see, it is the excess salt water from the de-salination plant that is used to create drinking water for the city.

Europa Point is the southern-most tip of Gibraltar & we get out of the bus for a look around. We are disappointed that we can’t see South Africa today, the sea mist reduces visibility too much. There is an old fortress here with gun emplacements & an old gun still in-situ. A lighthouse provides guidance to the users of the Straights of Gibraltar. Something that looks out of place is a large mosque built here that was funded by the King of Saudi Arabia for the use of the muslims living in Gibraltar. There is also a sporting complex here & a large children’s playground.

Our next stop is Saint Michaels Cave & as we drive up the side of the mountain we get great views over the harbour & all the ships laying at anchor in the bay. Our guide points out a small British naval ship at a berth in the harbour. The road to the cave is very steep & narrow, passing other vehicles is a challenge, it is so close. When we stop at the cave there are some monkeys looking for a feed near the cave entrance. There is a tunnel carved into the rock leading into the cave, this cave is huge, stalactites & stalagmites everywhere. There is a light show running that has constantly changing colours lighting up different parts of the cave. In the first part of the cave the shadows & the light make it appear that an angel is hovering in the cave, an extraordinary effect. We move through the cave up & down stairs until we reach the main chamber, this is a huge area with hundreds of seats so that you can sit & watch the light show while listening to the music. The light & music show is good, though I don’t see how it relates to Saint Michael, I was expecting something in this cave that had more religious undertones. The cave, however, has nothing at all to do with religion, it is only named after a similar cave in Italy.

More monkeys await us as we exit the cave looking for handouts of food. They put on a show for us, very cute. The drive down the mountain is interesting, the views are amazing & we get to have a better view of the fortifications that Gibraltar was built around. The bus drops us at the main square & as we enter we see a group of men in red soldier uniforms forming up. Tomorrow is Gibraltar National Day & they are rehearsing their part in the ceremony. The square is busy with people & a large stage has been set up for the ceremonies tomorrow. There are 4 police lifting & checking manholes for bombs. We see a photo of last year, this place was packed, glad we won’t be here amongst all the crowd. The first restaurant we went to didn’t have the fish & chips that was advertised on their billboard, so we walked around to another, Latinos, plenty of spare tables so we sat down. The service was quick, the food & drink served quickly & the food, Mongolian Lamb skewers plus seared tuna skewers tasted great, we enjoyed the food & a pint of beer.  The price was reasonable, but dearer than Spain.  Back on the little bus, back through passport control on the border, then back onto our big bus for the comfortable ride to our next destination.

Mijas is a beautiful little town perched high in the hills above the Costa del Sol. The road is narrow & steep & when we get into town, we find that some type of festival is occurring. All the buildings are whitewashed & the town looks very clean. We walk through a carnival area that is not operating at the moment, across to a terrace that looks out & over to the sea, the views are stunning. In one corner of the terrace is an old church hollowed out of the rock, the Santuario de la Virgen de la Pena, built in the 17^th century. The church bells start playing as we arrive & step inside. The altar area is a mass of yellow flowers.

Nearby we talk to the owner of a shop & he tells us that there is a festival being held in the main square in town, so we hurry off to find the Plaza Mayor. We walk up past a collection of scrawny donkeys that are lined up to pull carriages around the town. The old bullring comes into view, the Plaza de Toros, then not long after we start to see girls wearing beautiful flamenco dresses & we start to hear the music. It appears that the girls have just finished dancing & are heading away. The music gets louder as we get closer & we find that it is some type of rock band making loud noises. Time to head back to the bus & we walk quickly so that we get back just in time.

Our hotel/resort in Torremolinos is on the beach & our room looks out over the ocean so we walk over onto the beach to have a look. The sand is dark & the water is flat & a bit discoloured so we walk back & up to the rooftop pool at the hotel. The views from up the top are fabulous. That night before dinner Chad invites us all for a pre-dinner drink with some nibbles, we have a sangria & a nice chat before walking into the dining room. We enjoy a smorgasbord dinner at the hotel, the food is good & we eat too much again. The sangrias we have are also very good, followed by the red wine. After eating we stay chatting, drinking & laughing at the table with some of our fellow travellers.  We head off around 10pm to bed. Another great day.