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GIBRALTAR

IBRALTAR is a narrow peninsula running southwards from the south-west coast of Spain to which it is connected by a sandy isthmus about one mile long and half a mile wide. The name derives from the Arabic jabal Tariq (Tariq's mountain), after the Berber leader Tariq ibn Ziyad, who landed at or near Gibraltar in A.D. 711. The territory consists of a long, high mountain known as the Rock and a sandy plain to the north of it, raised only a few feet above sea level, called the North Front. The total area of the territory is two and a quarter square miles. Five miles across the bay to the west lies the Spanish port of Algeciras and 20 miles across the Straits, to the south, is Africa. The Mediterranean lies to the east. The distance to Britain is approximately 1,400 miles by sea.

The top of the Rock is a sharp, knife-edge ridge extending for about a mile and a half from the north escarpment, which is completely inaccessible, and then sloping gradually to the south for about a mile, to terminate at the southern extremity, Europa Point, in perpendicular cliffs about a hundred feet high. Its greatest elevation is 1,396 feet. The whole upper length of the eastern face is inaccessible and the steep upper half of the western slopes is uninhabited.

The two main sources of water supplies in Gibraltar are the water catchments on the east side of the rock face, which collect rainwater and supply the reservoirs hollowed out inside the Rock, and the wells on the sandy plain to the north. A new 225,000 g.p.d. distiller was erected during 1968 and is expected to be in commission by mid-1969.

The climate of Gibraltar is temperate. During the winter months the prevailing wind is from the west, often north-west and occasionally south-west. Snow or frost is extremely rare. The mean minimum and maximum temperatures during this period are 12°C (54°F) and 18°C (65°F) respectively.

In summer a warm breeze laden with moisture, known as the "Levanter", strikes the eastern face of the Rock, condenses in the sky above and causes a cloud pall to hang over the city and bay. During this period the climate is humid and relaxing. The minimum and maximum temperatures in the summer are 13°C (55°F) and 29°C (85°F) respectively. The rainy season is spread over the period September to May; the average annual rainfall is 35 inches.

The population of Gibraltar is European, of British, Genoese, Portuguese and Maltese extraction. During the long period of British possession of the Rock it has grown into a prosperous and homogeneous community with strong links with Britain. The first post-war census, taken in 1951, showed a total civilian population of 22,848, which by 1961 had increased to 24,075. The estimated civilian population at the end of 1968 was 26,007. The official language is English, though the population is bilingual in English and Spanish.

The main religious denominations are Roman Catholic, Anglican and Jewish. The Roman Catholics make up 88 per cent of the population. The Church of England and Jewish communities represent 7.5 per cent and 3 per cent respectively. There are small communities of other religious denominations.

There were 542 births and 216 deaths in 1968.

Total expenditure on medical and public health services in 1968 was £347,997. The number of beds available in hospitals was 232 and there were 3,525 inpatient admissions during the year.

Almost half the male wage-earners in Gibraltar are employed in one or other of the Service Departments, the Gibraltar Government, or the City Council. Commercial enterprises provide employment for a substantial number of clerical workers in shipping offices and trading agencies. Hotels, catering services, retail distributing trades and stevedoring are the other main sources of private employment.

There are a number of small industrial concerns such as roasting and blending coffee, canning meat and manufacturing ice, mineral water, and various items of clothing for local needs and export.

* A new index was introduced as from January 1966.

The value of all imports during 1968 was £10,230,377 of which about £2.2 million was in respect of foodstuffs. 44 per cent came from the United Kingdom, which is by far the leading supplier of goods to Gibraltar.

At the end of December 1968 the total insured labour force was 12,009. This included Spanish day labourers who were withdrawn in June 1969. There are 16 registered trade unions and 12 employers' associations.

The Port of Gibraltar offers 5,500 feet of alongside and protected berths to merchant shipping for passenger and cargo handling, bunkering, taking on supplies and for repairs. An additional 3,000 feet of alongside berths is available on a restricted basis for bunkering and for repairs. It also has a general purpose anchorage, the Commercial Anchorage, which is used by just over 50 per cent of the deepsea vessels calling at Gibraltar. A fully equipped Yacht Marina offers well protected berths for yachts and provides many auxiliary facilities.

There is a commercial ship repair yard and foundry capable of all types of repairs to hulls and marine engines. Another firm specialises in the underwater cleaning of ships' hulls and various underwater hull repairs. H.M. Dockyard drydock, slipway and repair facilities are available on application and subject to service requirements. No. 1 drydock is 904-8 feet in length (caisson in outer stop), 122-7 feet in breadth at entrance and the sill is 36.5 feet below chart datum. A quick and efficient oil bunkering service is provided on a 24-hour basis at alongside and anchorage berths.

A total of 3,332 merchant ships of 12,175,369 net registered tons including R.F.A's. entered the Port of Gibraltar during 1968. Of these 2,458 were deep-sea ships amounting to 11,883,406 n.r.t. including 117 cruise ships. Additionally, 914 yachts amounting to 29,446 n.r.t. called at the Port.

29,979 passengers disembarked, there were an additional 72,669 sightseeing passengers and 39,140 passengers embarked from Gibraltar during the year (by sea). The number of passengers embarked and disembarked includes 15,825 day excursionists.

Gibraltar Airport is situated at North Front in the area adjoining the frontier with Spain and approximately 1 mile from the centre of Town. The runway is 2,000 yards long. Air Traffic Control, meteorological facilities and the maintenance and operation of Gibraltar Airport are the responsibility of the R.A.F. who have an agreement with Gibraltar Airways for the handling by the latter of all civil aircraft.

There are regular air services operated by British European Airways and British United Airways direct from London to Gibraltar. BEA also operate a once-weekly service to Madrid. Gibraltar Airways, a BEA Associate Company, provides twice-daily services between Gibraltar and Tangier with additional services to give immediate connection to incoming flights from London. During 1968 there was a total of 1,289 commercial flights. The main operators were BEA, Gibair and BUA.

Bland Line operate a passenger and car ferry between Gibraltar and Tangier giving 5 services per week in winter and 8 services per week in summer. Additional excursion services operate to M'Diq, a summer holiday resort near Tetuan, Morocco.

There are no railways in Gibraltar. The total mileage of roads is 194. The length of road open to traffic in the City is 8 miles, in the South District 6 miles and in the area of North Front and Catalan Bay 5.5 miles. There are also some 34 miles of pedestrian way, making up a total of 23 miles. The motor roads are in good condition and suitable for vehicular traffic. A number of bus services maintain communication between all parts of the Rock.

The Gibraltar Broadcasting Corporation, formed late in 1963, is responsible for radio and television broadcasting with Thomson Television International as the managing agents. In 1958 Radio Gibraltar was inaugurated with two .5 Kilowatt transmitters operating on a frequency of 1,484 Kc/s, 202-2 metres.

A third transmitter operating on 1 kilowatt was installed in 1961. G.B.C.-Radio (Radio Gibraltar) broadcasts in English and Spanish for 16 hours daily, an average of 5 hours weekly being devoted to commercial broadcasting. In addition to live and locally recorded programmes, use is made of B.B.C. transcriptions and relays. At the end of 1968, 3,601 radio receiving licences were held by radio owners. G.B.C.-T.V. operates for 4 hours daily in English. The station operates on frequency allocations of E6 182-25-187, 75-7,000 MK/s link. There were 6,417 licensed T.V. sets at the end of 1968.

The expenditure on new housing amounted to £257,000 of which £186,700 were met from C.D. and W. grants and loans and the remaining £149,000 from local funds.

185 flats were completed and occupied during the course of the year. At the end of the year there were 230 flats under construction, the estimated cost of which is £966,000.

The housing shortage still persists despite the fact that 1,958 flats have been completed since the war at a total cost of £7 million.

In the private sector, work continues on a number of projects for the construction of residential accommodation for persons wishing to settle in Gibraltar. Some of these have now been completed. A new development in 1969 was the construction of a holiday camp at Sandy Bay, costing £540,000, which consists of 8 blocks of apartments providing 420 beds. Several hotels which have undergone improvements and extensions in recent years are planning further development and there is a possibility that new ones will be built on sites released by the Service Departments. All these developments qualify under the Development Aid Ordinance for relief from income tax and rates.

By motion in the Legislature on the 28th April 1967, the Government formally approved the Development Programme for the period 1967-1970. This aims at creating a viable economy for Gibraltar by ensuring fullest development of its tourist potential, attracting permanent residents, and making full use of the port. The programme involves expenditure of £3,871,000, of which £1,847,000 is for Housing.

This latter item, especially when account is taken of the several residential projects now under construction in the private sector, makes a greater demand on public utilities and the Programme therefore makes provision for expansion of the City Council's Electricity Service, the acquisition of additional distillation plant to meet the ever-increasing demand for water (including shipping requirements), the provision of a new refuse destructor and the extension of the telephone service. Development projects (including those of a touristic character) account for £603,000.

Her Majesty's Government have been asked to provide £2 million of the Programme by way of grant aid from Colonial Development and Welfare funds, and a further £200,000 as an Exchequer Loan. The balance (£1,171,000) will be found from local loans.

Taxation is mainly indirect but income tax was introduced in 1953. The main heads of taxation and the yields in 1968 were: Customs, £849,224; Estate Duties, £50,982; Stamp Duties, £15,106; Licences, £52,907; Income Tax, £394,035. In addition the Gibraltar Government Lottery yielded a profit of £121,856. The standard rate of income tax is 5/- in the £ (two-thirds of which is applicable to taxpayers other than companies or individuals). The rates applicable to individuals resident in Gibraltar range from 10d. to 5s. in the £.

Under the Development Aid Ordinance, including schemes of mechanisation, profits accruing from capital invested on approved schemes of development are granted relief from income tax to the extent of the amount of capital invested in the scheme.

With the introduction of the 1967 budget a new 5 per cent ad valorem import duty was imposed on all items which had previously been duty free, with a few exceptions such as foodstuffs, drugs and medical preparations and certain basic building materials. Preferential rates of duty apply to certain imports of Commonwealth origin, while alcoholic beverages imported in bulk attract reduced rates. A drawback is allowed on certain goods warehoused in a Government store and subsequently exported from Gibraltar and on clothing materials used in the local manufactures of garments for export.

Stamp Duties are chargeable under the Stamp Duties Ordinance, the provisions of which follow closely the Stamp Act, 1891, the rates being the same as those in force in Britain. The bulk of the revenue from stamp duties in Gibraltar is derived from transactions in real property.

Estate Duty is levied on a sliding scale ranging from 1 per cent on an estate valued at between £2,000 and £3,000 to 20 per cent on an estate exceeding £100,000 in value. Estates the value of which do not exceed £2,000 are exempt. Revenue for 1968 totalled £2,493,106. Customs accounted for £849,224 and licences and internal revenue for £523,419. Expenditure in 1968 amounted to £2,400,488 of which the main heads of expenditure were Social Services, £1,311,360, Public Works, £262,807; Justice, Law and Order, £213,962.

Education in Gibraltar is free and universal and the medium of instruction in the schools is English. Education is compulsory between the ages of five and fifteen and scholarships are made available for universities, teacher training and other higher education in Britain. There are twelve Government primary schools and three private schools. At the end of the year there were 2,663 pupils enrolled in Government schools and 605 in private schools, making a total of 3,268. Secondary education is provided by two selective schools, one for boys and one for girls and four non-selective schools. The age of transfer is 11+. On the 31st December 1968, there were 572 pupils in selective schools (205 boys, 267 girls) and 1,106 pupils in non-selective schools (580 boys, 526 girls). The schools prepare candidates for the G.C.E. papers of the Cambridge Local