A small rock wall
The rock of Gibraltar is a rocky chalk massif with a maximum height of 426 metres. It is part of the Baetic ranges and is linked to the Iberian Peninsula by a sandy isthmus. Its mountainous terrain which is geographically isolated limits settlement and industry. As a result, cross-border relations are more necessary, intense and diverse, as compared to other cross-border colonial areas.
The map-maker included in his chart notes in French on the topography and hydrography of the bay. He wrote that the mountain of Gibraltar «is made of steep and inaccessible rocks», and that the city of Gibraltar «only gets the sun at nine in the morning due to the great height of the mountain». He adds «above there is a beautiful esplanade with the most wonderful prospect in the world». The location of Gibraltar on the Straits, between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, and facing Ceuta and Tangiers in Morocco justifies this remark. The emplacement is a multi-border area of great strategic value.
He also added the following warning for shipping passing through the Straits in those years in the 18th century: «There are never many provisions in Gibraltar. Even the English meet all their needs from the outside: from Spain, Tetuan and Algiers». In the 20th century the approximately five square kilometers that is the terrain of Gibraltar could not accommodate the diverse industries of the colony: military, touristic, sex, refuelling for ships, contraband… and there was no room for the people who worked there. Only a cross-border community could.