Driving to Gibraltar

we have just moved over to the manilva area and would like to know when the best times are for getting on and off gib? so we can go to morrisons to get dairy free foods for the kids.or does anyone know of any local shops that sell dairy free products (milk,butter,yogurtsetc)

Welcome to the forum, when we go to Gib we go about 10.00am and find it ok, we do our shopping at Morrisons then a walk up the high street then back to Manilva.

A lot of people in the area work in Gib so it tends to get busy driving in most of the morning, unless you go at 8 in the morning.

I do actually find that some days we'll get there at 10am and we just drive straight in, then the next time we might have to queue for half an hour.  To me there's not a lot of logic.  I often park up in La Linea and walk in.

Getting out is easier.  I think it gets busiest around 5pm when people are leaving work but again, it can vary.

Justin

 There's a lot of seasonal variation - a long run up to Christmas, around Easter and height of the Summer tourist season can mean queues even outside of the commuting times.  I find going in is OK even if there is a long queue (e.g. because a flight has just landed) because it seems to move quicker.  Going out I always seem to get stuck in the wrong lane.

Hi we live in Alcaidesa about 15 mins away from Gib, my partner works in Gibraltar 5 days a week, he goes every morning at 7am to miss the ques (as previously mentioned they seem to start around 8am in the week.) I know this last week or two there have been problems with the Spanish Police they narrowed the que down to one lane and wouldn't let you que past the round about so you had to drive around La Linea to get back into the que and hope you didn't end up past the round about again!! The ques have been upto 2 hours waiting! But in saying that we went on Sunday around 9am and drove straight in no que and the same coming out. I would also avoid around 10.30 - 11.00am s there are 2 flights that land and cars get stopped earlier than pedestrians crossing the run way. SO really it is very hit and miss but I do agree on the mass exidus at around 4.00pm to 5.30pm my partner always tries to leave before then as he has sat in que for 1 hour 45 mins in 28+C which does not make him a happy man by the time he gets home! I would check what times Morrisons are open as I am sure they are open Sundays and late.

As an Ex Pat though I agree you can't really get dairy products anywhere, some supermarkets have a English section i.e Carrafour has a section with Cheese and other items but they are expensive in Spain expect to pay £4-£5 for cathederal chedder! Yoghurts are the same just different packaging and most supermarkets do have fresh milk if you look in the fridge section but everything doesn't last as long here so I wouldn't advise it. Your best bet if you can bear it is to go to Morrisons once a month like we do and stock up on cheese, cottage cheese, dips, & cakes. We have only been here just over 2 months and I must admit I don't crave the English food like I did when I first got here so you will probably find you won't have to go as often.

Long life Soya Milk is readily available in Eroski (Duquesa) & Carrefour (Estapona). Not seen any soya yoghurts though. Seem to be plenty of Olive Oil based spreads available as well.

Spain also has a far better choice of goats (Cabra) & sheep (Ovega) cheese's than you will find generally in the UK

John

Rather surprised at SEAK saying "to pay £4-£5 for cathederal chedder!"  Been to UK lately have you?  

Consum, Carrefour (and, dare I say it, Iceland) flog it at around 9 euros a kilo.  In Tescos it is £8 a kilo so not much difference.  In fact, a 400g on special offer was £3.75 which makes it £4.25 at the garbage exchange rate we have now.

Also disagree with everything doesn't last so long here.  President milk (sold in Carrefour, Consum etc) is exactly the same as the milk you get in UK and lasts just as long (Don't you lot have fridges?).  Cravendale (imported from UK) is available in many places if you're stupid enough to pay the prices.

Soya and gluten free products are just as freely available in Spain as they are in UK.  Well, they are on the CB, anyway.  As are pork pies, Bisto gravy, market stalls selling UK cheeses (much prefer the Spanish ones, anyway.  Try some, you might like them) HP sauce etc etc etc.

Come and live in Spain, try the Jamon Serrano, the Pancetta, the San Simon - Izbores - Manchego cheeses instead of mousetrap cheddar.  Try the Spanish pastellerias for your cakes rather than popping into Morrisons for your cakes.  Some of them are really superb, even try the supermarket bread counters to pick up delicious pastries filled with almonds and custard (Crema Ingles).  Wrap the Serrano ham (10 slices for about 80c in Spain, 5 slices in UK for about 3 quid) around Mozarella cheese balls and fry them in a dry pan until crispy.  Butter in Spain is expensive because UK is about the only country that uses it.  Try aoli (garlic mayonaisse) or olive oil instead, after all, you came to Spain for the healthy Mediterranean diet so stop trying to import the bad UK diet.  Stop going to the English butchers to stock up on red meat (which is pretty bad for you) and cook a joint of Pork fillet for a change, it really is exceptionally tasty and so much cheaper than UK.  Use fresh, plum tomatoes in your pasta sauces rather than tinned (tasteless) rubbish.  Get some fresh oregano from the local market as it really does make a difference.  Spanish yogurts are delicious, look for the sin gluten or contiene soya labels.  Creme Caramel for desserts are superb and taste so much different to the UK ones.

Take a long trip to my house and have fresh tomatoes, pan rustica, queso quemada con hierbas for Lunch and Pollo con patatas bravas for dinner. (Not every day, of course, sometimes we buy chicken nuggets from Iceland when the grandkids visit) or a dish of Spanish pork stew with onions and tomatoes.  This is, of course, without even getting me started on the magnificent fish that is available in Spain.  Live the Spanish life, eat the Spanish way.  You know it makes sense.

In fact,

I am half spanish and have eaten the Spanish way all my life and love it. My mother is from Galicia and there you really do get the best fish and meat in Spain,  but my british half still loves it when my wife comes back from Morrisons Gibraltar.

Fresh milk is a problem here as so many times supercor has sold us a carton of milk only to get home and find its gone off.

All this talk is making me think of pork pies

I drive to Gibraltar 5 days a week because I work there. I really don't like the place at all but I have no choice but to go there.  I find the place to be noisy, cramped, dirty and overrun with smelly uninsured scooters ridden by kamikaze pilots.  I work shifts so there is no ideal time to leave for work, but it never ceases to amaze me that the people who are always slagging off the Gibraltarians and the English are the ones causing the traffic congestion at the border as they queue (sorry I mean push in) to get their cheap fags, booze, groceries and petrol!

What you really need before an eight hour day is to queue up for aynthing up to 3/4 hour while every punk in a VW Golf pushes in and threatens you with violence if you object and then the ignoramus' who disguise themselves as Gibraltar customs abuse you if you dare to look at them.  Then you have to spend another 30 minutes trying to find a parking space only to find that every space has been taken by a scooter, or worse than that, you find a parking space in a CAR PARK. only to find that when you return you have a ticket from some little hitler in a peaked cap because they were cleaning the car park that day.  Well they were cleaning your bit not the bit where a Gibraltarian has permanently parked his wreck with a tarpaulin over it so you can't see the registration.

Then finally when you do leave work to go home you have to queue for anything up to 3 hours (my record) because the Guardia Uncivil are in a mood, or on a go-slow, or some prat was caught 12 hours ago with 4 cartons of fags so the whole world has to be searched.

You finally cross the border and are happily travelling along at a very boring 110 KPH while the rest of the world, including the police overtake you only to come across a road-block being controlled by police and soldiers with shotguns, machine guns and alsatian guard dogs.

At last you get home just in time to go to bed ready to do it all over again the next day.

So why do it and what's the difference between here and the U?  Well the sun doesn't shine on the M25 or M1.  The police are just as crooked although they don't have guns.  I get 6 weeks 2 days holiday a year instead of 4 weeks.  All the bars have happy hours lasting from 6 until 9pm and so on:)

I'm glad I got that off my chest I feel much better now.

 Dear me, Orda, you are having a grumpy old day (or week).  Surely it's not all that bad?

And sorry to make you feel even worse but the weather in UK has been glorious this last week.  Up in the 70s with no rain, no wind and the daffodils are out all over the place.  Oh, and everyone in UK now gets the 6 weeks leave as well (well, 5.6 weeks to be pedantic).  Bank holidays are no longer allowed to be included in your annual leave.  Never mind, I'm sure things can only get better.  Nihil carborundum illegitimi.

Orda,

"overrun with smelly uninsured scooters ridden by kamikaze pilots."

LOL!

Even though that statement made me laugh out loud, it is true ...very true!

Once, just once I'd like to give one of them a little nudge... by accident of course... and see the look on their faces as they swerve to avoid other traffic, as I have to swerve to avoid them!

Just a thought though, why don't you park outside Gib, walk in and catch the bus? Seems to me that this would be a lot quicker... and with the cost of petrol and diesel as high as it is, possibly cheaper. Then only drive in when you need to go to Morrisons and fill up!

Also, why not start a car share!

To be honest during the week I do mostly park along the La Linea front.  The trouble with that is that the buses stop running in Gib at 9pm and my wife, who often works the same shift, is recovering from cancer and can't walk far.  The taxis in Gib are horrendously expensive, even more so if you ring for one, and you have to sit in the back breathing in the drivers smoke and B.O. and wiping the ash off your eyebrows.  That's alright as long as you've got grey hair like me!  Then you have to walk along the La Linea front to your car, possibly in the dark.  I was mugged in La Lineaalong the front by 3 thugs  4 1/2 years ago when I first came here and I don't fancy going through that again.

It isn't always possible to get parked because if the queue is all the way back to the Marina they won't let you pull in to the side to park and most of the parking meters don't work anyway.  Even when the market isn't on infront of the football stadium for some reason they still cordon it off which takes away a lot more parking spaces.

Up until about 3 years ago we used to park on the rough ground opposite the Las Tablas cafe but when the summer fair came 3 years ago they closed it and have never re-opened it.  We would pay about €30's a month for 24/7 parking.  It doesn't make sense that an Ayuntemiento that is bankrupt does away with an easy source of income.

Well Babaol I think you missed the point.  It isn't all that bad which was what I saidand why I'm still here.

The industry I work in still only gives you 4 weeks holiday a year in the UK and forces people to work Bank Holidays for time and a half because they are "allegedly" the busiest times.

Oh and I'm really glad that you didn't miss the annual 3 days of sunshine in Britain LOL.