Rock, Road, Runway

Where else can you see roaring jets passing by just 100 meters away while waiting at traffic lights? Welcome to Gibraltar Airport (GIB), which serves the British Overseas Territory at the southernmost tip of Spain.

The airport’s runway actually crosses the main public thoroughfare into the city. During aircraft movements, road access to the crossing is cut off, of course. This used to lead to long queues of traffic. The issue was finally resolved, when the Airport Tunnel opened in 2023. Since then, all motorized traffic has been routed through the tunnel. Nowadays, only pedestrians and cyclists are allowed to cross the runway when entering Gibraltar.

Limited by the shoreline on either side, the runway spans less than 2 kilometers in length. It’s surrounded by difficult terrain, including a rock of over 400 meters high. These characteristics make Gibraltar Airport one of the more challenging airports, requiring additional training for pilots and crew.

Another popular feature of the overseas territory is its colony of Barbary macaques. These monkeys are the only free-roaming wild primates in Europe. Apart from this, Gibraltar has all the familiar elements of a medium-sized UK town including red phone boxes, Royal Mail post boxes and the ubiquitous Marks & Spencer high-street store. It’s as if a compact slice of Britain has been tucked into a remote corner of the Iberian Peninsula.