Gibraltar International Airport is unusual not only because of its proximity to the city center resulting in the airport terminal being within walking distance of much of Gibraltar but also because the runway intersects Winston Churchill Avenue, the main north–south street, requiring movable barricades to close when aircraft land or depart. New roads and a tunnel, which will end the need to stop road traffic when aircraft use the runway, were planned to coincide with the building of a new airport terminal building with an originally estimated completion date of 2009, although it has not been completed because of delays.
The most popular alternative airport for Gibraltar is Málaga Airport in Spain, some 120 kilometers (75 mi) to the east, which offers a wide range of destinations, second to Jerez Airport which is closer to Gibraltar. In addition, the Algeciras Heliport across the bay offers scheduled services to Ceuta.
Passenger and cargo ships anchor in the Gibraltar Harbour. Also, a ferry links Gibraltar with Tangier in Morocco. The ferry between Gibraltar and Algeciras, which had been halted in 1969 when Franco severed communications with Gibraltar, was reopened on 16 December 2009, served by the Spanish company Transcoma. A vehicle ramp at the western end of the North Mole allows vehicles to be unloaded from a RORO ferry.
Ferries by FRS running twice a week from Gibraltar to Tanger-Med port provide access to the Moroccan railway system.
“An escutcheon on which the upper two thirds shall be a white field and on the said field set a red castle, and below the said castle, on the other third of the escutcheon, which must be a red field in which there must be a white line between the castle and the said red field, there shall be a golden key which hangs by a chain from the said castle, as are here figured”.
Flag of Gibraltar
The flag was regularized in 1982 and is formed by two horizontal bands of white (top, double width) and red with a three-towered red castle in the center of the white band; hanging from the castle gate is a gold key centered in the red band. The flag differs from that of other British overseas territories, in that it is not a British ensign nor does it feature the Union Jack in any form. The castle does not resemble any in Gibraltar but is supposed to represent the fortress of Gibraltar. The key is said to symbolize the fortress‘ significance as Gibraltar was seen to be the key to Spain by the Moors and Spanish and later as the key to the Mediterranean by the British.
