English and the World · Spain · 27 · Gibraltar · A1–C2 · A1–A2 free
A mountain of limestone at the mouth of the Mediterranean, a pillar of Hercules, a name that remembers 711, wild apes, and a small British town at the tip of Spain. Choose your level.
Gibraltar today
Gibraltar is a big rock, 426 metres high, at the south of Spain. It is a British territory, and about 34,000 people live there. To enter Gibraltar you walk across the border and then across the airport runway! Then you go along Main Street, with its English shops and red post boxes.
From the town, a cable car goes up the Rock. At the top there are wild apes, the only wild monkeys in Europe. You can walk through long tunnels inside the Rock, and down to a beautiful cave, St Michael’s Cave. On a clear day you can see Africa across the sea.
A long history
For the ancient Greeks, the Rock was one of the two Pillars of Hercules, at the end of the known world. In 711 a Muslim army sailed from Africa to the Rock. Its leader was Tariq, and the Rock got his name: Jabal Tariq, “Tariq’s mountain”. In English we say Gibraltar.
In 1462 Castile took Gibraltar. In 1704 a British and Dutch fleet came into the bay and took it, and since then it has been British. Spain still wants it back. Every day thousands of people go into and out of Gibraltar to work.
🦉 Want more? Sophia explains prepositions of place and movement in The Space Between Things (Philo & Sophia, Lesson 12).
Language: prepositions of movement
| Preposition | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| up / down | to a higher / lower place | The cable car goes up the Rock. |
| across | from one side to the other | Walk across the runway. |
| along | following a line: a street, a river | Go along Main Street. |
| through | in one end and out of the other | Walk through the tunnels. |
| into / out of | entering / leaving | The fleet came into the bay. |
| from … to | start and end of a journey | They sailed from Africa to the Rock. |
⚠️ In is a place, into is a movement: The apes are in the park, but The ape jumped into the car. And we say go to Gibraltar, but go home (no to).
Read the texts first. Press “Check my answers” at the end.
Choose the best answer.
1. What is unusual about entering Gibraltar?
2. What lives at the top of the Rock?
3. Where does the name Gibraltar come from?
4. When did Gibraltar become British?
Write up, down, across, along or through.
5. The cable car goes the Rock to the top.
6. You walk the runway, from one side to the other.
7. We walked Main Street and looked at the shops.
8. You can walk long tunnels inside the Rock.
Write the missing word.
9. After the top, we walked to St Michael’s Cave.
10. In 1704 a fleet came the bay. (entering)
11. Tariq sailed Africa to the Rock.
12. Thousands of workers go into and of Gibraltar every day.
Go there!
Visit: bring your passport or identity card. Take the cable car up the Rock, see the apes (don’t feed them, and hold on to your bag!), visit St Michael’s Cave and the Great Siege Tunnels, and walk down to Europa Point, with its lighthouse and the view of Africa.
Your task: describe the way from your home to your school or to a shop, using up, down, across, along, through, into and out of.
It tells how a rock at the mouth of the Mediterranean became a legend, a name, a fortress and a dispute, how the first Neanderthal skull was found there before anyone knew what it was, why the apes are said to guard British rule, and how Gibraltarians speak two languages at once, with grammar, practice, etymology and a visit plan.
The A1–A2 version above is free for everyone.
It tells how a rock at the mouth of the Mediterranean became a legend, a name, a fortress and a dispute, how the first Neanderthal skull was found there before anyone knew what it was, why the apes are said to guard British rule, and how Gibraltarians speak two languages at once, with grammar, practice, etymology and a visit plan.
The A1–A2 version above is free for everyone.