Getting to Gibraltar

[Willdtrout]

I’ll be starting VdP from Gibraltar and looking for advice on how to get to Gibraltar. Flights seem pretty easy ( from west coast US) but I’m curious how difficult it would be to fly to tangier and cross over by ferry. Anyone done it?

My primary concern is to not have layovers or travel days in Schengen countries. I fear I’ll need all my 90 days for Camino so would like to get to Gibraltar and have an easy start for walking.

Also thinking a few days in Morocco could help with the jet lag

 

[Tincatinker]

Well, a few days in Tangier would definitely take your mind off jet lag but the ferry goes to Algeciras. If you definitely want to step out from Gib rather than La Linea you’ll need to enter, leave and re-enter Schengen all in one day. Flights via the UK get you there, you’ll not get a direct flight, the runways to short

 

[Lindsay53]

I'm not certain, but are there not some issues with the border crossing between Gibraltar and Spain, given the tension between the UK and Spain over Gibraltar? Might be best to do some research on the UK and Spanish government tourist information sites.

 

[jungleboy]

I'm not certain, but are there not some issues with the border crossing between Gibraltar and Spain, given the tension between the UK and Spain over Gibraltar?

You can walk across the border, I did it last December.

 

[Kathy F.]

In June, Gibraltar wouldn't let me in from Spain with my U.S. passport. Long, complicated story, just be aware that Gibraltar might be fussy. Do your homework.

 

[Tincatinker]

There are periodic spats around the border but given the hundreds, even thousands who live in La Linea or Algecira and work in Gib resolutions come quickly. The experience of non-Schengen non-UK passport holders can, obviously, vary

 

[Marcus-UK]

Well, a few days in Tangier would definitely take your mind off jet lag but the ferry goes to Algeciras. If you definitely want to step out from Gib rather than La Linea you’ll need to enter, leave and re-enter Schengen all in one day. Flights via the UK get you there, you’ll not get a direct flight, the runways to short

There are direct flights from the UK to Gibraltar from both Heathrow and Birmingham. Ther are direct flights US Newark NJ to Birmingham (BHX) The UK is not in the Schengen area.

I used to use the Gibraltar to Morocco ferry back in the days when the Gibraltar - Spanish border was closed. However this boat no longer runs anymore. Unless you can hitch a lift on the water tanker that tops up Gibs' reservoir. You would be limited to a ferry going to La Linea/Algeciras. However there are local buses that take you within a few hundred metres of the boarder. which you could cross on foot.

 

[Tincatinker]

I said that a direct flight from the USA was not available.

 

[TravellingMan22]

I said that a direct flight from the USA was not available.

Be a interesting landing with a full payload!

 

[Marcus-UK]

Be a interesting landing with a full payload!

The RAF heavy lift aircraft do it all the time. However they can't overshoot the runway since there is a large rock at the end.

 

[TravellingMan22]

The RAF heavy lift aircraft do it all the time. However they can't overshoot the runway since there is a large rock at the end.

The RAF heavy lift aircraft do it all the time. However they can't overshoot the runway since there is a large rock at the end.

ha ha! Very good!

 

[Willdtrout]

Wow

Guess I didn’t know what I was asking? I thought Gibraltar was just a rock on the coast of Spain and I imagined it would be good to start Camino on top of that rock.

Guess I was wrong. Is it really that hard to cross from Gibraltar into Spain?

Guess I’ll do more research but for now looks like La Linea will be my start point…..

So…. How do I get to La Linea from the US?

 

[Willdtrout]

In June, Gibraltar wouldn't let me in from Spain with my U.S. passport. Long, complicated story, just be aware that Gibraltar might be fussy. Do your homework.

Would they let me enter from a flight arriving from the UK?

 

[Kathar1na]

Guess I was wrong. Is it really that hard to cross from Gibraltar into Spain?

You can watch the Gibraltar border webcams: https://www.frontierqueue.gi . At the time of writing (August 2023, Sunday morning) there is little traffic, whether car, bikes or on foot, and no queues or disturbances.

Gibraltar and their relationship with the European Union/Schengen area was excluded from the Brexit negotiations. Hence the Spanish government and the British government are still haggling over it. A main issue is who will control passports in the near future, i.e. which kind of uniforms they will be wearing and on which spot exactly their booths will be placed (mainly for the Gibraltar air border = line in or near the international airport building).

If you want to start from Gibraltar you have to decide whether a) you enter Gibraltar by air from outside Schengen or b) you enter Gibraltar on land from Spain, and then in both cases a) and b) you then enter Spain/Schengen area on land to start Camino walking properly. It may make a difference to the little stamps in your passport but I don't even know what their current practice is. Presumably nobody on this forum knows. Ignore speculation and stories from long ago.

I don't understand why @Kathy F. had an issue with her US passport. I assume that it was a recent event - this year? But then she says it is a long story.

Buen Camino!

 

[Kathar1na]

Strictly speaking of course, if you walk from La Linea, walk over the border to Gibraltar and walk back over the border again, you started your Camino walking in Spain.

These Camino starting points are sometimes difficult to justify and artificially constructed concepts.

 

[Tincatinker]

Would they let me enter from a flight arriving from the UK?

Yes. Strictly speaking they have no interest on how you got to Gibraltar. Their only concern is that you are eligible to enter Schengen. As a citizen of the USA (?) you qualify for the Schengen visa waiver assuming you have not previously blotted your copybook.
On my latest entry, 2022, to Gib, on foot, from Spain my passport was checked, and stamped by Spanish Border Control. I and my UK passport were completely ignored by what I assume was a Gibraltese official. The following day, walking into La Linea for lunch I was duly stamped into Schengen and a few hours later stamped out again.

 

[Kathar1na]

(Long story deleted)

Non-EU citizens report that their passports did receive Schengen exit stamps and Schengen entry stamps from the Spanish border control staff at the Spain/Gibraltar land border.

@Willdtrout, since your 90/180 days balance is important to you: Are you planning to spend the night in Gibraltar? In this case your Schengen exit/entry stamps would have different dates. Would it make any difference to your 90/180 days balance if you stayed only one night in Gibraltar? No, it would not !!!

Even if you enter Gibraltar from Spain very early in the morning and leave Gibraltar for Spain very late in the evening of the next day, i.e. you spent nearly two full days in Gibraltar, under Schengen law you will be considered as having spent these two days in the Schengen area (and not in Gibraltar) because the date of your stamp is counted as a full day in Schengen.

 

[jungleboy]

When I walked across the border last year with a non-EU passport, I was stamped out (and back in) by Spain, but on the Gibraltar side they told me to go to the tourist office if I wanted a stamp. So I did!

 

[Kathar1na]

When I walked across the border last year with a non-EU passport, I was stamped out (and back in) by Spain, but on the Gibraltar side they told me to go to the tourist office if I wanted a stamp. So I did!
View attachment 154883

I just deleted a long copy-pasted quote from a Gibraltar Message Board because I felt it was too long and not relevant enough. I am posting a shorter quote again about this Gibraltar stamp because US passport holders ought to pay attention to it :

an information office near main street can give an unofficial souvenir stamp which says "Thank you for visiting the rock of Gibraltar". That unofficial stamp is related to just the rock and not the territory. In some countries such unofficial stamps can even cause serious problems such as invalidating the passport (especially the USA can be strict with that).​

​

The camino credencial might be a better place for this kind of stamp.

 

[jungleboy]

The camino credencial might be a better place for this kind of stamp.

I got it in both

 

[Kathy F.]

You can watch the Gibraltar border webcams: https://www.frontierqueue.gi . At the time of writing (August 2023, Sunday morning) there is little traffic, whether car, bikes or on foot, and no queues or disturbances.

Gibraltar and their relationship with the European Union/Schengen area was excluded from the Brexit negotiations. Hence the Spanish government and the British government are still haggling over it. A main issue is who will control passports in the near future, i.e. which kind of uniforms they will be wearing and on which spot exactly their booths will be placed (mainly for the Gibraltar air border = line in or near the international airport building).

If you want to start from Gibraltar you have to decide whether a) you enter Gibraltar by air from outside Schengen or b) you enter Gibraltar on land from Spain, and then in both cases a) and b) you then enter Spain/Schengen area on land to start Camino walking properly. It may make a difference to the little stamps in your passport but I don't even know what their current practice is. Presumably nobody on this forum knows. Ignore speculation and stories from long ago.

I don't understand why @Kathy F. had an issue with her US passport. I assume that it was a recent event - this year? But then she says it is a long story.

Buen Camino!

Yes. It happened in June 2023.

 

[henrythedog]

Start in La Línea. Gibraltar is a dump and if you know so little about it that you think it’s just a rock off Spain, you’re not missing much.

 

[ward4e]

Hey wildtrout, I walked from Gibraltar to Santiago earlier this year. Was more than bit surprised how hot it got up in the mountains near Olivera but also how much I would come to miss the peace of it all when I got to Orense. Good on you for going this route! Would 100% go again but probably in a few more years an earlier on in spring.

My trip was through UK for ease. I flew from Australia a on my British Passport to Gatwick. Then an easyJet to Gibraltar for all of ½ an hour before I crossed the border into Spain on my British Passport. For the next 3 days I based myself at Hostal La Campana. Theres probably better place or cheaper but for me it was a winner as it had access to the laundry and pizza place next door was a great! bonus is its really not far to the kick of point too.

I was a bit of a tourist in Gibraltar and walked the rock etc. I didn’t really see why the town it gets such a bad wrap but everyone has their own opinion. My warnings would be over the Spanish steps and taking some more water. Don’t let people discourage you on what to and not to see on your own way. I didn’t visit any chapels in Gibraltar and my first sello was Parroquia Santiago Apóstol.

I’d kill to try Tangiers and come across but you may have a better time using rome to rio and seeing if there is a bus service to Ceuta. From there its a nice fast ferry service to Algerciras. From the port there its a short walk to the auto bus station to head over to La Linea.

Anyway here if you want to talk