Travel Guide Spain /// Gibraltar Red pillar boxes, fish-and-chip shops and creaky 1970s seaside hotels; Gibraltar – as British writer Laurie Lee once commented – is a piece of Portsmouth sliced off and towed 500 miles south. As with many colonial outposts, ‘the Rock’ overstates its Britishness, a bonus for pub-grub and afternoon-tea lovers, but a confusing double-take for modern Brits who thought their country had moved on since the days of Lord Nelson memorabilia. Poised strategically at the jaws of Europe and Africa, Gibraltar, with its Palladian architecture and camera-hogging Barbary macaques, makes for an interesting break from Cádiz province's white towns and tapas. Playing an admirable supporting role is the swashbuckling local history; lest we forget, the Rock has been British longer than the United States has been American. This towering 5km-long limestone ridge rises to 426m, with dramatic cliffs on its northern and eastern sides. Gibraltarians speak English, Spanish, and a curiously accented, sing-song mix of the two, swapping back and forth midsentence. Signs are in English. Read more: www.lonelyplanet.com/spain/gibraltar#ixzz3plfOFZSU © 2015 Lonely Planet

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