3 in 1

Day 50
Distance: ~84 km, Top Speed: ?? kmph

Whether the coastal road was actually a motorway or not was anyone's guess. Police passed me once and did nothing, so it was probably ok? Those "no cycling" signs were just guidelines, yes? My worries were slightly eased when I saw another cyclist on the same road! In our brief conversation, I found out he was Polish, carrying roughly 50 kg with him on his bike and extremely friendly. I would have loved to stay and chat, but my lightly packed bike meant I easily outpaced him.

High society luncheon was consumed in the swanky holiday complex called Sotogrande. I had to give my passport details to a security guard to get in! He was stern, but saw I was a thirsty mess so gave me all his water.

An hour or so later I had climbed the final hill before Gibraltar. I stocked up on some snacks from the local friendly fruit merchant, then sailed my way down the sinuous highway into Gibraltar, stopping only to capture the amazing view as shown. Spain, the United Kingdom and Morocco, two continents and three countries in one picture.

I checked into a little motel in La Línea de la Concepción, about 700 m from the Spain/Gibraltar border.

It was still early in the day, I so I had time to do a quick lap of Gibraltar before bed time. Getting in was easy in terms of passport control. I cycled across the runway (it stretches out over the sea to the east and west of the peninsula and is the only means of road access) with planes, pedestrians and traffic on either side of me. It didn't feel right.

The east coast was clearly reclaimed by the birds, as thousands of them circled overhead in a mad screeching cluster. The south coast had some nice views of Morocco. The sun set on the west coast, painting the harbour area and the adjacent ports of Algeciras and Tarifa in a warm light.

Getting out of the country was a lot slower due to the extremely scrutinous Spanish passport officials, apparently as a result (or cause?) of recent tension between the two neighbouring nationalities.