Going Blind From Shingles

Gibraltar: A rock-ethnic, multilingual and multi

The only land border crossing between Spain and Gibraltar, and the rock,
seen from the Andalusian town of La Línea de la Concepción.
(Photo © Albert Lazaro Tinaut)

The name with you know The Rock (the Kalpa of the ancient Greeks), the British colony of southern Iberia, comes from the name given by the Arabs to the rock where it sits: Jabal Tariq (جبل طارق), "the mountain of Tariq", in honor of Tariq ibn Ziyad al-Layti (طارق بن زياد), the Berber chieftain who landed there with his troops in 711 and, according to tradition, led the conquest of Hispania Visigoths.

The history of this strategic peninsula 6.5 km ², situated east of the Algeciras Bay is well known, became part of Taifa de Granada, it was taken by, in 1309 the English troops, conquered by the benimerines at 1333, courtesy of the Nazari kingdom they de Granada twenty-four years later and finally conquered for the English Crown by the Duke of Medina Sidonia in 1562, although until 1501 it was officially incorporated into the Kingdom of Castile.

The Anglo-Dutch site that suffered the rock from 1 to 4 August 1704, during the War of English Succession, the Bourbon troops forced Philip V to capitulate to the Prince of Hesse-Darmstadt, who took possession of Gibraltar on behalf of the Archduke Charles of Austria, the pretender to the English crown.

A British Man of War Before
the Rock of Gibraltar ,
painting of the late eighteenth century,
the English artist Thomas Whitcombe.

After a failed site by English-French troops, under the treaty of Utrecht, which ended the war of succession in 1713 Gibraltar became a British possession, and remains a colony, although English frequent attempts to regain the territory.

When the passer visited Gibraltar, the first thing that surprised him, since the bus took a walk after passing the English-Gibraltar, was seeing how the short road leading to the city center has to cross the runway , which is closed by a barrier similar to that of the railway level crossing when a plane takes off or lands.

Upon reaching the city, then observed the curious contradictions that exist in that place, where Llanitos (name that are known Gibraltarians) retain a Castilian heterodox, with a strong Andalusian accent, while the official language is English colony, the language they are written almost all the labels (although in some cases appears bilingualism).

A typical bus
English in the city center of
Gibraltar, you can see
(
clicking on the photo to enlarge)
entries bilingual
in English and Castilian.
(Photo © Albert Lazaro Tinaut)

is also inconsistent use of the coin, officially uses the British pound (that has even a local version issued by the Government of Gibraltar : the Gibraltar pound ), but the euro circulates alongside and often the prices are marked in both currencies. However, the European currency is not allowed in certain places, such as the post office.

A £ 20 note issued by the Gibraltar Government.

The passerby was able to observe further that the small town of Gibraltar, divided into seven residential areas and populated by little more than 27,000 people, is a multicultural and multi-very interesting in that the population mix local (Andalusian or Andalusian roots), a minority of British (mostly devoted to administrative tasks, commercial and government) and a relatively nourished Muslim communities (about 7% of the population) and Jewish (present in the rock since six hundred and fifty years, which, though currently only accounts for 2% of the population, has always been influential: it is estimated that in the local language, the Llanito , using a hundred words of Hebrew origin).



























Gibraltar
A Jewish boy with yarmulke property.
(Photo © Albert Lazaro Tinaut)

door of a house in the Jewish community of Gibraltar
. may be the year of construction: 5655
Hebrew calendar, which corresponds
to 1895 from our Gregorian calendar.
(Photo © Albert Lazaro Tinaut)

Muslim men coming out of one of their mosques in Gibraltar.
(Photo © Albert Lazaro Tinaut)

The major religions, however, are the Anglican and Catholic churches, each of which has its cathedral and its temples. There are also temples of other Protestant communities, Hindus, Baha'is, etc.




























Anglican Cathedral of the Holy Trinity (Holy Trinity),
Moorish style and architect unknown consecrated in 1838.
(Photo © Albert Lazaro Tinaut)

Catholic Cathedral of St. Mary the Crowned,
raised in the site of an ancient mosque
. was consecrated on August 20, 1462.
(Photo © Albert Lazaro Tinaut)

The Llanito Castilian dialect is a curious, very close to the Andalusian yet distinctive and eclectic. Expressions include not only Hebrew, but mostly Maltese and English words (many Maltese families settled in Gibraltar), Arabs, Berbers, Portuguese, Genoese and many languages \u200b\u200bof India, from where many traders.

Transient recalls, for example, that when he tried to go to Punta Europa, the bus driver told him (the transcription is phonetically approximate): "Vamo 'to see' if Podem yega that ehtd very windy time " in fact, the day was windy and it prevented the transient rise to the top of The Rock, Signal Hill (of 387 meters, where the famous Gibraltar monkeys), as the cable car on the access was not working that day because, precisely, the force of the wind, and taxi drivers-they-called hedge too much money to get you there.

Europa Point Lighthouse, built
between 1831 and 1841 and automated
in 1994.
(Photo © Albert Lazaro Tinaut)

Punta Europa ( Great Europa Point, according to official British place names) is the southernmost tip of the peninsula of Gibraltar, facing north Africa, which is visible in the distance. This is a small rocky outcrop and plain, which include the lighthouse, the Mosque of Ibrahim al-Ibrahim (funded by King Fahd of Saudi Arabia and opened on August 8, 1997) and the small Catholic shrine of Our Lady Europe.

The friendly bus driver who drove up there to the passer (the force of wind was so strong and the waves therefore, no longer invaded the esplanade as a few hours before), told him where I expect when the public service vehicle make the next trip. In return, we collected school, impeccably dressed in the uniforms of their respective schools. The local police also wear a uniform similar to that of London bobbies, with corresponding characteristic helmet (helmet). And, despite everything, in Gibraltar traditions clearly respond to the customs of the old British Empire, in many respects, the rock is a piece of the conservative United Kingdom transplanted to southern Europe.

A very British image in a very Mediterranean.
(Photo © Albert Lazaro Tinaut)

Do click on the photos to enlarge.