Did you know there is a British territory, a peninsula, connected to Spain via a sandy isthmus (which mostly holds an airport)? It is known as Gibraltar (Arabic: Jabal Tariq) and the bulk of the terrain is a giant rock, aptly named “the rock of Gibraltar”, with a smaller area of low, flat land surrounding the rock, which is where most of the houses, hotels, shops, and restaurants are, as well as the ports, obviously. Gibraltar generates most of its revenue through the UK military, tourism, as well as the shipping industry that brings in exports and such – but I’m not an economist, so this is the least interesting thing about Gibraltar to me.

The most interesting parts of Gibraltar are the culture (all of the southern Spain region experienced continuous exchanges between Christian and Islamic rule, and the architecture – especially in places like Seville – showcase this point beautifully), the lore (the rock is one of the two pillars of Hercules, which, according to Homer, were the result of Hercules (Heracles) karate chopping through the mountains, thus separating Africa from Europe), and the monkeys.

Known as Barbary Macaques, these cheeky little Gibraltarians are the main attractions for tourists, but how they got there in the first place seems to be up for debate. According to the Gibraltar tourism page, they were either brought over by the Moors between 700 and 1492 (when Columbus sailed the ocean blue?) or they are relatives of the macaques that migrated throughout southern Europe around 5 million years ago. Who could say!

Whatever the case, they are adorable, sociable kleptomaniacs – I watched one steal trinkets at a souvenir shop while another distracted the sales person so ANOTHER could lift a 50 from the cash register (okay, that last part is a little embellished, but not by much!) That said, they are STILL wild animals and should not be handled, but admired from a distance.

We visited Gibraltar about 6 or 7 years ago, sort of on a whim. We were actually there to visit Malaga, do the El Caminito del Rey trail, and check out Rhonda (all in Spain), but that’s a different post. Either way, it was a whim I do not regret.

The barbary macaque is the only wild non-human primate in Europe and are natively, and more commonly, found in Algeria and Morocco. They are awake by day, co-parent, walk on all four legs, and are incredibly adaptable to a variety of climates.

According to legend, during the Great Siege, the French and Spanish attempted a sneak attack on the British army, but the effort was terminated when the monkeys stirred and alerted the British army. This spurred the belief that as long as the monkeys live on the island, so too will the British. Therefore, when the numbers began to drop, Winston Churchill had their numbers replenished by taking monkeys from Algeria and Morocco. Five of the females taken from Morocco even had names: Daisy, Beatrice, Jane, Kathleen, and Madeline. This fact amused me.

And, not to disparage, but a quote from Churchill highlights his ignorance a bit:

“THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE APES ON GIBRALTAR SHOULD BE  TWENTY-FOUR,  AND EVERY EFFORT SHOULD BE MADE TO REACH THIS NUMBER AS SOON AS POSSIBLE AND MAINTAIN IT THEREAFTER.” —WSC

They are not apes.

The twenty-four was what he had hoped to increase their numbers to, from seven. His motives were mixed – from the legend to the morale of the soldiers during WW2 to his fervent love of animals. Churchill really did care for the monkeys and may be partly to thank for the greater numbers of barbary macaques on Gibraltar, today.

If you ever have the chance to go and visit the rock, I highly recommend it. The people were nice, the monkeys were fun to see, and the history of the area is incredibly rich.