City Gibraltar, Gibraltar
Cats in Gibraltar
Everyone comes for the monkeys. The cats are on the lanes of the Upper Town, in the botanic gardens and along the beach at Catalan Bay, looked after by a volunteer group with feeding stations across the Rock.
Where to find cats in Gibraltar: Gibraltar, the British territory on the Rock at the bottom of Spain. The Upper Town lanes above Main Street, the Alameda Gardens, and Catalan Bay on the east side. When: Morning before the cruise passengers land, or evening. Any month; it is mild all year. Why here: A small territory with a well-organised volunteer cat network, and steep old lanes that were built for cats.
The short version
- Where
- Gibraltar, the British territory on the Rock at the bottom of Spain. The Upper Town lanes above Main Street, the Alameda Gardens, and Catalan Bay on the east side
- When
- Morning before the cruise passengers land, or evening. Any month; it is mild all year
- How long
- Half a day for the town and the gardens. A day if you go up the Rock
- What it costs
- Free to walk. The nature reserve on the Rock has a ticket, and that is where the monkeys are, not the cats
- Why here
- A small territory with a well-organised volunteer cat network, and steep old lanes that were built for cats
What to bring
- Legs for the stepsThe Upper Town is stairs. Castle Steps, Lime Kiln Steps, all of them. The cats are at the top.
- Before the shipsA cruise ship empties a few thousand people onto Main Street by mid-morning. The lanes above it stay quiet.
- Nothing for the catsThere are feeding stations run by volunteers. A stranger鈥檚 food in the wrong place brings the monkeys down, and that is a problem for everyone.
- A sense of scaleThe whole territory is six square kilometres. You can walk every cat spot on this page in a morning.
Why there are cats everywhere
Gibraltar鈥檚 famous animals are the macaques on the Rock. Its everyday animals are the cats on the steps below it.
The Rock is a limestone mountain with a town squeezed onto its western side: Main Street along the bottom, British and Genoese and Spanish and Moroccan all at once, and above it the Upper Town, a warren of steep lanes and staircases climbing towards the Moorish Castle. The lanes were built for people on foot and mules, and they are perfect for cats: walls to sit on, steps to sun on, and gardens behind every gate.
The territory has a street-cat population that is looked after, in the modern way, by volunteers: a group called Save Gibraltar Street Cats runs feeding stations, traps and neuters, and rehomes what it can. An older cat welfare society did the work for decades before it wound up, and the volunteers picked it up. On a territory this small, you notice: the cats are in reasonable condition, many are ear-tipped, and the feeding stations are where you find them.
The other places are the Alameda, the botanic gardens at the south end of town, where the cats live among the dragon trees and are fed by the gardeners, and Catalan Bay, the Genoese fishing village on the far side of the Rock, where the cats sit on the sea wall like anywhere on the Mediterranean. And a warning: the macaques on the upper Rock are wild, bold and interested in your bag. They are not the same kind of encounter, and they are why you must not carry cat food up there.
The walk
Main Street to the Alameda, back up through the Upper Town to the castle, and, if you have the legs, over the Rock to Catalan Bay. Three hours, or a day with the bay.
- From Gibraltar airportWalk across the runway into town15 minThe road crosses the runway. It is the only airport where this is normal.
- From La L铆nea, SpainWalk across the border20 minPassport out. Park in Spain; driving into Gibraltar is a queue you do not want.
- From M谩lagaBus to La L铆nea, then walk180 minTwo and a half hours on the coast bus. A day trip works.
Main Street
From Casemates Square at the north end down the length of the old town. Not many cats here, too many people, but every lane off it to the right climbs into the Upper Town where they are.
Main Street鈥檚 side lanes. Turn uphill.Scott Wylie, CC BY 4.0 The Alameda Gardens
At the south end of town, the botanic gardens, planted in 1816: dragon trees, a wildlife park, and cats among the beds, fed by the gardeners. Free, and the quietest place in Gibraltar at nine in the morning.
A gardens cat. Fed, shaded, unbothered.Joe Dorward, CC BY-SA 4.0 The Upper Town
Back north and up any staircase: Castle Steps, or the lanes behind the cathedral. Walls, gates, gardens and cats on all of them. This is where the feeding stations are, and where the cats live.
Upper Town. Steps, walls, and someone on each.Joe Dorward, CC BY-SA 4.0 The Moorish Castle
At the top of the steps, the fourteenth-century tower with the flag on it. Cats on the walls around it and the view over the bay to Spain. The macaques start above here; put the food away.
Near the top. The castle is above, and beyond it, the monkeys.Scott Wylie, CC BY 4.0 Catalan Bay
Through the tunnel or over the Rock to the east side and the little Genoese fishing village on the beach. Cats on the sea wall and around the church. A swim, a fried fish, and the bus back.
The east side. Sea wall, fishing boats, and a cat who owns them.Joe Dorward, CC BY-SA 4.0
Same numbers as the list. Worth keeping open on your phone.
The cats you will meet
Mediterranean street cats with a British veterinary safety net: tabby, black, white and ginger, short-coated, many ear-tipped, fed at volunteer stations and by the gardeners at the Alameda. Sociable in the lanes, wary near the tunnel traffic.
Lane cats
On the walls and steps of the Upper Town.
The main population. Sit on a step and they investigate.
Garden cats
Among the beds at the Alameda.
Fed by the gardeners. Do not add to it.
Beach cats
On the sea wall at Catalan Bay.
The fishermen鈥檚 cats. Fish scraps, sun, and the church steps.
Everybody says The animals of Gibraltar are the monkeys.
Actually The macaques are the famous ones, on the upper Rock, wild and ticketed. The cats are the everyday ones, on the steps below, fed by volunteers. Never take cat food up the Rock; the monkeys will take it, and you.
How not to be the annoying one
- Do not feed the macaques, ever. It is illegal and they will come for your bag. Cat food on the Rock is monkey food.
- Use the feeding stations if you want to help, or give to the volunteers who run them.
- The Upper Town lanes are people鈥檚 front steps. Sit on public ones.
- The Alameda is a botanic garden. Stay off the beds the cats are in.
- Ear-tipped means done. Leave the trapping to the people with the traps.
