Coast of Southern Spain

Fishermen

After a few days in La Linea we again started to sail the southern coast of Spain (the Andalusia region) on our way to Cartagena - our winter home.  The landscape is like none I have seen before - arid and barren.  Home to mountains and tumbleweed!  Turns out is was the ideal location for filming all those "spaghetti westerns" of the 60s and 70s.  Some of the sets are still there but have now been turned into amusement parks.  Sadly, we did not make it to Tabernas where many of these sets still exist.  We will have to make a point of visiting on the way back out!  

South Coast of Spain

 There seems to be a permanent haze all along the coast - air pollution.  You don't notice it so much when you are off the boat albeit it is very noticeable when sailing along the coast. 

Beach at Cabo de Gata

Our first stop past La Linea we decided to go to a marina.  What a mistake - the harbour master was a complete curmudgeon and the marineros did not assist at all with the med mooring.  As we were novices to this type of mooring we could have used a little assistance!  After that we tried to anchor when possible and were much happier.  At this one little beach there was a fellow running a little business making mojitos for the sailors at anchor.  A mobile "bar" in a dinghy!  He was pretty proud of his mojitos but they were indeed very tasty.  Enterprising fellow!  

 The other noticeable feature of this region of Spain is what many refer to as a "sea of plastic".  The town of Almeria (as well as the whole area) is the site of the largest concentration of greenhouses in the world!  As barren as the area is you would think nothing would grow.  As it turns out the area supplies the vast majority of winter vegies and fruit to the rest of Europe.  The hills are alive with all these polyethelene sheets that make up the greenhouses allowing them to grow vegetables year round.  

Almeria Greenhouses

 And what goes well with fresh vegetables - fresh fish, of course.  The fish are not just caught but farmed.  Lots of folks to feed!

Commercial Fish Farm

A different landscape for sure - other worldly.  It looks pretty inhospitable but then you come across these great towns and cities - suddenly you see the beauty. 

Building right out the hills

One of my favorite sites was seeing how they just carved these buildings right out of the hills.  So amazing how folks adapt to their environment! 

Gibraltar

The Rock of Gibraltar

Much of Gibraltar consists of this very large limestone rock.  The top of the rock being a nature reserve and the inside of the rock filled with caves and tunnels.  Although, Gibraltar sits on the south coast of Spain it is actually a British territory.  Gibraltar was ceded to Great Britain many, many years ago following a war and has remained under British control since.  Since at least a full one half of all sea going commerce comes through the Strait of Gibraltar its strategic significance is well understood.  There has been ongoing tension as Spain believes that Gibraltar is rightfully theirs... but the good folks of Gibraltar disagree, as does the UK.  Now, of course, Gibraltar is a tourist attraction as well as an important spot for the shipping industry.  The town itself sits at the bottom of the "Rock" and is largely self-governed.  We decided to stay in La Linea, Spain which is literally across the street from Gibraltar.  

Town of La Linea across the Gibraltar runway

In order to visit Gibraltar you must go through customs and then walk across the runway for the airport!  Seriously, you have to cross the runway to get to the town.  Now its not a busy airport so its not a problem... but the novelty is interesting!   The top of the rock is worth a visit if for no reason other than the monkeys.  There are many Barbary Apes that live on the top of the Rock.  They are really just monkeys - but they are wild.  My water bottle was stolen by one quick monkey right off the bat!  He was on and off my back before I was even sure what was happening:).  

There is a tram that you can take to the top of the Rock OR if you are very enterprising you can take some steps all the way up- 1,398 feet!  We took the Tram.  It was July and a hot day (a good reason to carry a water bottle which was promptly stolen!) so the steps were not sounding too appealing.  We bought a round trip ticket which turned out to be a mistake.  The tram drops you at the top but from there the tunnels, caves etc are all downhill.  That means if you want to take the tram back to town you have to walk back to the top to catch the tram!  They forgot to mention that part :(.

Tram cables and Bay of Gibraltar

We were steadily going down as we were visiting the sites and by the time we reached the Moorish Castle we saw that we were almost all the way down.  From there it was an easy decision to skip the tram and walk on down into town.

Moorish Castle

Baby Barbary Apes catching a ride on Mom

If you were really lazy you could just hire a "tour" car to drive you all over the Rock.  And if you are a very lazy monkey you just catch a ride on one of those cars.

Lazy monkeys riding around on cars

Over the years and through more than one war Gibraltar has been strategic due to its position at the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea.  Most definitely during WWII Gibraltar was hugely important as evidenced by the tunnels and gun sites. 

One of the many caves

I am certain the numerous caves came in handy as well for housing troops and supplies.  But for now all we do is visit and look at the tunnels, caves and battlements.  We receive a history lesson on their significance in the various wars but thank goodness its history... no war now.  

Queen Charlotte's Battery