Weather forecast Gibraltar

Gibraltar (including rainfall and temperature averages)

While Gibraltar is not actually part of Spain, it does get Spanish weather. Overlooking the Straits of Gibraltar at the entrance to the Mediterranean, the rock has long been a beacon for travellers returning to Europe. For the last three hundred years it has been run as a British Overseas Territory but previously it had a long and varied history.

In the eighth century it was the landing point for the Moorish armies who went on to conquer most of the Iberian Peninsula but it was uninhabited until the 1150s, when Sultan Abd al-Mu’min ordered the construction of a castle, parts of which still remain. Reconquered by the Christian Duke Medina Sidonia in 1462, it was initially granted as a sovereignty to Sephardic Jews fleeing Cordoba; in 1476, however, this was revoked and the Jews were handed over to the Spanish Inquisition.

Gibraltar remained under Spanish control until 1704 when Admiral George Rooke captured the town. Terrified by the British sailors’ reputation for looting, most of the Spanish population fled to the mainland. Spain ceded the territory to the British in the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht. Due to its strategic importance, the Spanish authorities have been trying to regain it ever since, whether by military or diplomatic means, but, as a succession of referenda have shown, the population of the Rock is adamant in its determination to stay British.

Although tiny – just 2.642 squared-miles in size – Gibraltar offers a lot to tourists seeking a relaxing holiday. The climate is warm all year and very hot in summer, with average temperatures never dipping below 11°C and seasonal highs in excess of 40°C.

Many visitors arrive by cruise ship to see the looming Rock from the where you can see over to the Atlas Mountains in Morocco. Most of the upper area is covered by a nature reserve, home to Barbary Macaques, the only wild monkeys found in Europe. Local superstition states that if the monkeys ever leave, so will the British.

South along Queen’s Road, St Michael’s Cave is an immense natural cavern; the lower part is a series of chambers going ever deeper into the rock ending in a beautiful underground lake. The Tower of Homage is the largest surviving part of the old Moorish Castle; nearby, the Upper Galleries were blasted out of the rock to point guns down at the Spanish during the Great Siege of 1779-82. Back in the lovely old town, the Gibraltar museum is home to two well-preserved Moorish Baths.

The Rock is not just for culture vultures, as a tax-free zone this is a popular shopping destination for both travellers and ex-pats living on the mainland. The territory even has its own currency; the Gibraltarian pound.

Sun lovers do less well – the only really nice beach is at Catalan Bay, which has lots of character and a different vibe to the town. As befits a place so caught between cultures, both the cuisine and the nightlife owe something to Spanish and British influences. Fish and chips are as common as tapas although there are some national dishes such as rosto, fideos al horno, calentita, panissa, and rolitos.