La Línea de la Concepción

On the frontier with Gibraltar, the origin of this town was the Línea de Contravalación (The Countermobility Line), which Felipe V had constructed during the Gibraltar sieges in the 18th century, blocking anyone from crossing the isthmus which connected the mainland to the Rock.

Once the War of Independence had ended (1810), the civilians who arrived, attracted by the magnet of the jobs available in Gibraltar built shacks and huts in the shadow of the ruins of the border line. This was the seed that grew into the first urban settlement at La Línea which would then take the name of Concepción as a tribute to the patron saint of the Infantry (closely linked to the history of the area).

The urban design has a colonial air, and retains a beacon tower (16th-17th century) and remains of Santa Bárbara and San Felipe Forts (18th century), besides the Church of the Inmaculada. Amongst the enormous offer in Museums, there is everything from the Cruz Herrera Museum to the Isthmus Museum, with archaeological treasures, and the Pepe Cabrera Municipal Bull Fighting Museum, one of the most important of its type in Spain.

One of the main tourist attractions is the beaches with their pale, clear sands: La Alcaidesa, El Burgo, La Hacienda, La Atunara and in particular, the Poniente Beach. They are perfect for any kind of water sport, for instance sailing, water-skiing, windsurfing or fishing. The Los Alcornocales Natural Park is very close to the town.

Gibraltar

Called Jebel Tarik (Mount Tarik) by the Arabs, this imposing limestone mass of great natural value hosts a wealth of flora and fauna on its slopes. Amongst it assiduous inhabitants there is a colony of gregarious, tailless monkeys which delight visitors to the Rock. The urban area of Gibraltar and the airport, built on reclaimed land and shared by Gibraltar and Spain, stretch out at the foot of the rock. The people of Gibraltar are known affectionately as the “llanitos”, being a mixture of ethnic origins and cultures. The blood running through their veins is British, Spanish, Maltese, Jewish, Moroccan, Genovese and Indian.