GIBRALTAR
T
he Gibraltar peninsula has been
one of the most disputed slices
of land in the world for centuries.
Mons Calpe, the Rock of Gibraltar, is
one of two promontories fl anking the
entrance to the Mediterranean known
as the Pillars of Hercules. Sovereignty of
the territory has been fought over since
the Phoenicians ruled the area in 950BC.
As wars raged, Gibraltar fell fi rst to the
Carthaginians and later the Romans, but
after the fall of that empire it came under
the control of the Visigothic kingdom of
Hispania. Around 700AD the fi rst se lersmoved to the area to live under Muslim
Moorish rule and it was renamed Jebel
Tarik (The Mount of Tarik).
The territory then fell to Spain before
being ceded to the United Kingdom with
the signing of the Treaty of Utrecht in- So, despite three wars, 14 sieges,
countless rounds of negotiation and
two referendums, Gibraltar remains
a British Overseas Territory. It has an
independent government and its own
parliament, although the UK oversees
its defences and foreign policy. Legend
has it that while the indigenous monkeys
(Barbary macaques) remain on Gibraltar,
so too will the British.Air service development
The strategic importance of Gibraltar
made construction of an airfi eld inevitable
and in 1939 a landing strip was completed.
During World War Two the airfi eld was
renamed RAF North Front and was
extended on reclaimed land in the Bay of
Gibraltar. Today the site is still owned by
the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) and is
known to the services as RAF Gibraltar.
The military maintains a presence onROCK
AND ROLL
Gibraltar has earned a place
on lists of ‘extreme airports’
because of its short runway,
a road running across the
airstrip, and turbulence
created by The Rock. But
Renato Serra Fonseca
discovered that its bark is
arguably worse than its bite.BELOW:
Gibraltar's
runway has sea
at both ends. The
approaches can
also be impacted
by turbulence
from The Rock.
(All photos
Renato Serra
Fonseca)90 // Extreme Airports90-93_Gibraltar.indd 90 11/05/2018 11:07