My Two Cents: The Barbary Apes in Gibraltar

Gibraltar is an interesting place to visit. Its main claim to fame is the Rock of Gibraltar. You may recognize this rock as the logo that Prudential Insurance Company uses in some of its advertisements. But did you also know that at the top of the rock, monkeys roam wild?

The Rock of Gibraltar as seen from across the border in La Linea, Spain.

I was in Europe on a student trip that I was running during the summer of 2008. We were nearing the end of our 17-day trip, which started in London, and also included Paris, many cities in Spain, Portugal, and a day in Morocco. We had a free day in Costa del Sol. Some students decided to relax and go to the beach for the day while the other half ventured with me for a day trip to Gibraltar. We took a public bus a few hours southwest to the Spanish town of La Línea.

Even though Gibraltar is physically located on the southern tip of Spain, it is a British territory. For driving, traffic drives on the right because the territory shares a border with Spain. We did have to show our passports when crossing into Gibraltar and then back into Spain however, because Gibraltar is not part of the Schengen Zone. This is the zone with no border crossings because of disputes with Spain, but Gibraltar is part of the European Union. The official currency is Gibraltar pounds, which have different designs than British pounds but are freely interchangeable. Most places accepted Euros too.

We hired a local taxi van to drive us up to the upper section of the rock. At the top, about 300 Barbary Apes roam wild. Although they are called apes, they are really monkeys. There are signs warning visitors to stay away from the apes, although the apes don’t seem to pay attention to them. Some of them are aggressive and jump on people and try to take things from them. This is probably because tourists feed them.

I first saw a large female ape nursing her baby. I was very conscious of her need to be left alone. Females with babies are extremely protective of their young and as such, could be very dangerous. It was awesome watching her stroke the baby’s head and cuddle with it much like we do with our babies. I had a zoom lens and was NOT this close to the mother.

A nursing baby

The apes amused us as they jumped and climbed over cars, walked on rails, and did what they pleased. Some of our students were hoping the apes would come close; others wanted no part of that. To our son Kevin’s delight, one of the apes jumped on his shoulder. That son-of-a-gun ape was trying to take his hat. Luckily Kevin was quick to grab it away, since he had just bought it in London for 40 Euros (about $60) a week earlier.

The apes were definitely the highlight of this excursion. It was a day trip worth every minute of the ride.