0:00:03 > 0:00:06I'm embarking on a new railway adventure
0:00:06 > 0:00:09that will take me across the heart of Europe.
0:00:11 > 0:00:12I will be using this,
0:00:12 > 0:00:16my Bradshaw's Continental Railway Guide, dated 1913,
0:00:16 > 0:00:20which opened up an exotic world of foreign travel
0:00:20 > 0:00:21for the British tourist.
0:00:23 > 0:00:25It told travellers where to go,
0:00:25 > 0:00:27what to see and how to navigate
0:00:27 > 0:00:31the thousands of miles of tracks criss-crossing the continent.
0:00:31 > 0:00:33Now, a century later,
0:00:33 > 0:00:37I'm using my copy to reveal an era of great optimism and energy,
0:00:37 > 0:00:42when technology, industry, science and the arts were flourishing.
0:00:42 > 0:00:45I want to rediscover that lost Europe
0:00:45 > 0:00:47that in 1913 couldn't know
0:00:47 > 0:00:50that its way of life would shortly be swept aside
0:00:50 > 0:00:52by the advent of war.
0:01:11 > 0:01:16I'm continuing my journey which started in the Spanish capital Madrid.
0:01:16 > 0:01:18I travelled south-west to historic Cordoba,
0:01:18 > 0:01:22a city with ancient Moorish roots,
0:01:22 > 0:01:25Today I cross Andalusia to Seville
0:01:25 > 0:01:27and on to Jerez in the south-west.
0:01:27 > 0:01:31The hilltop town of Ronda will be my final inland stop,
0:01:31 > 0:01:35before I descend to the Costa Del Sol.
0:01:35 > 0:01:37And my journey ends on the Rock of Gibraltar.
0:01:38 > 0:01:42On this second part of my journey, I find out why a tobacco factory
0:01:42 > 0:01:46Seville became an Edwardian tourist attraction.
0:01:47 > 0:01:48'..Discover in Jerez
0:01:48 > 0:01:51'how we have been getting a British tradition so wrong'.
0:01:51 > 0:01:55- How do we drink sherry? - Well, in England, very badly.
0:01:56 > 0:01:59'And find out the lengths that the British went to
0:01:59 > 0:02:01'to keep the Rock of Gibraltar.'
0:02:01 > 0:02:04Six men were prepared to entomb themselves
0:02:04 > 0:02:09literally inside the rock. It's a total James Bond story.
0:02:09 > 0:02:12Oh! It's an absolutely perfectly designed lookout.
0:02:16 > 0:02:18When my guidebook was published, the exotic
0:02:18 > 0:02:22and adventurous rail journey across Spain would have been slow.
0:02:22 > 0:02:27Now the country has over 3,000km of track and its high-speed system
0:02:27 > 0:02:31serves a staggering 60% of the population.
0:02:31 > 0:02:36My journey of around 130km through Andalusia's rolling hills
0:02:36 > 0:02:39would take me just 40 minutes.
0:02:39 > 0:02:43Bradshaw says that Seville is the capital of Andalusia.
0:02:43 > 0:02:45"The streets present a bright cheerfulness of life
0:02:45 > 0:02:49"and a charm that go far to justify the boast..."
0:02:49 > 0:02:53HE QUOTES IN SPANISH
0:02:53 > 0:02:57"Who hasn't seen Seville has not seen a wonder", and indeed,
0:02:57 > 0:03:02with its avenues and fountains and gardens and cathedral, all enveloped
0:03:02 > 0:03:04in the scent of orange blossom,
0:03:04 > 0:03:07it is indeed one of the world's wonders.
0:03:13 > 0:03:16Seville's fortunes have been shaped by its river port.
0:03:18 > 0:03:21The 16th century was its golden age, when it became the major
0:03:21 > 0:03:25European point of departure for the New World of the Americas.
0:03:27 > 0:03:30During the 19th century's rapid industrialisation,
0:03:30 > 0:03:34rail connections brought an influx of artists and intellectuals,
0:03:34 > 0:03:38keen to escape the manufacturing cities of northern Europe.
0:03:42 > 0:03:46Touring the city of Seville in 1913 would have been made easier
0:03:46 > 0:03:48for the traveller by the tram system.
0:03:54 > 0:03:57Bradshaw's tells me that the cathedral in Seville is
0:03:57 > 0:04:02"a Gothic edifice of surpassing architectural and historic interest.
0:04:02 > 0:04:05"It suffered much from earthquake and two or three times,
0:04:05 > 0:04:11"the dome has collapsed, the last collapse being on August 1st, 1888".
0:04:11 > 0:04:13I've often been in Seville and I didn't know that.
0:04:13 > 0:04:17But what I DO remember is that the vast majority of the steeple
0:04:17 > 0:04:23was formerly an Islamic minaret and it has an exact twin in Marrakech.
0:04:29 > 0:04:33I love Seville so much that now I have a house near here,
0:04:33 > 0:04:36in a town ringed by Roman walls.
0:04:37 > 0:04:40It means that I can truly enjoy this beautiful city
0:04:40 > 0:04:42and THIS place has always intrigued me.
0:04:44 > 0:04:47"The tobacco factory is usually included among the sites
0:04:47 > 0:04:50"of Seville", says Bradshaw's. I'm curious to know why.
0:04:50 > 0:04:54"It's an immense building where are employed 5,000 cigareras" -
0:04:54 > 0:04:58that is, of course women cigar workers.
0:04:58 > 0:04:59That could be the clue.
0:05:00 > 0:05:04Columbus's sailors brought the first tobacco plants
0:05:04 > 0:05:07from the Americas at the end of the 15th century.
0:05:07 > 0:05:12By 1728, Spanish King Philip V began work on what is
0:05:12 > 0:05:15possibly the grandest tobacco factory ever built.
0:05:15 > 0:05:18Originally, only men were employed in the tobacco industry,
0:05:18 > 0:05:21to make snuff, but by 1829,
0:05:21 > 0:05:26the nimbler and cheaper fingers of women were in demand to make cigars.
0:05:27 > 0:05:31Today, the Seville factory houses the city's university.
0:05:31 > 0:05:36I want to find out why it became such a tourist attraction.
0:05:39 > 0:05:44My Bradshaw's guide recommends visitors to come to the factory
0:05:44 > 0:05:47and I'm just wondering why visitors would want to come here.
0:05:47 > 0:05:51Most of the 19th-century travellers came to Spain
0:05:51 > 0:05:55escaping from the dreary life of industrial Europe.
0:05:55 > 0:05:59The first thing they visited was a factory, which is
0:05:59 > 0:06:01a bit of a paradox!
0:06:01 > 0:06:07But of course there was this added charm of seeing lots of ladies.
0:06:07 > 0:06:09And how would the tourists see them?
0:06:09 > 0:06:12They had to be invited by the administrator,
0:06:12 > 0:06:14but normally people of some standing,
0:06:14 > 0:06:18some social standing, had no problem in getting here.
0:06:18 > 0:06:21And were these women very beautiful?
0:06:21 > 0:06:24Well, according to the visitors, yes, they were.
0:06:24 > 0:06:28But in fact, the photographs we have of them taken at the end
0:06:28 > 0:06:31of the 19th century show that most of them were pretty awful.
0:06:31 > 0:06:36It's a myth of the cigareras - it was obviously an imaginary thing!
0:06:36 > 0:06:39Well, my experience of Seville women is that they're very beautiful!
0:06:39 > 0:06:41My experience, too!
0:06:42 > 0:06:46MUSIC: "Habanera" from Carmen by Bizet
0:06:46 > 0:06:50These fierce cigareras were immortalised by the French
0:06:50 > 0:06:55composer George Bizet in his passionate opera, Carmen.
0:06:55 > 0:06:59Bizet depicted the heroine Carmen as an amoral seductress with
0:06:59 > 0:07:02both men and women behaving badly.
0:07:02 > 0:07:05Did Spanish people get a bit offended that their women
0:07:05 > 0:07:09- and their men were being represented as libertines in opera?- No.
0:07:09 > 0:07:12Not really, I don't think so.
0:07:12 > 0:07:17This sort of reaction took place in the very recent
0:07:17 > 0:07:19times in the dictatorship of Franco
0:07:19 > 0:07:24when some composer decided to create a figure which was the good
0:07:24 > 0:07:28and virtuous Carmen, which embodied the virtues of the Spanish people,
0:07:28 > 0:07:32to come to balance the influence of the French Carmen,
0:07:32 > 0:07:35which was, er...rather libertine.
0:07:35 > 0:07:39It was composer Manuel Quiroga who wrote the more reserved
0:07:39 > 0:07:40Spanish version.
0:07:41 > 0:07:45WOMAN SINGS IN SPANISH
0:08:13 > 0:08:15Ole!
0:08:21 > 0:08:25The next stop on my journey will be Jerez de la Frontera -
0:08:25 > 0:08:27the sherry capital of the world,
0:08:27 > 0:08:30thanks to the town's perfect conditions for growing
0:08:30 > 0:08:32the palomino grape.
0:08:39 > 0:08:42As well as being famous for its fortified wine,
0:08:42 > 0:08:46Jerez is the transport and communication hub of its province.
0:08:51 > 0:08:53Mucho gusto.
0:08:53 > 0:08:56Adios. Hasta luego.
0:08:59 > 0:09:02Throughout my Spanish journey so far, I've been at stations
0:09:02 > 0:09:06which are utilitarian, modern, made of concrete and glass, reflecting
0:09:06 > 0:09:09how much railway building has been done in the last two decades.
0:09:09 > 0:09:12It's so nice to arrive now at a traditional station,
0:09:12 > 0:09:15here covered in ceramic tiles in these brilliant, bright colours,
0:09:15 > 0:09:17so typical of the south of Spain.
0:09:21 > 0:09:25Jerez's success and the British love affair with sherry all
0:09:25 > 0:09:27started with a military incident.
0:09:27 > 0:09:32In 1587, Sir Francis Drake made a daring raid on the Spanish fleet.
0:09:32 > 0:09:35His triumphal return from Spain included
0:09:35 > 0:09:39a cargo of 2,900 butts of sherry.
0:09:39 > 0:09:42His liquid spoils of war were instantly popular.
0:09:42 > 0:09:48In 1855, British businessmen Robert Byass joined forces with
0:09:48 > 0:09:52Manuel Gonzalez and their sherry empire started
0:09:52 > 0:09:56with the production of 7.5 hectares of vineyards.
0:09:56 > 0:09:59Today, it's his great-great-grandson
0:09:59 > 0:10:04and my friend Gonzalo del Rio who is a leading light at Gonzales-Byass.
0:10:09 > 0:10:12- Gonzalo!- Michael!
0:10:12 > 0:10:16Lovely to see you. I'm good. Is it time for a little sherry?
0:10:16 > 0:10:19I've heard you love sherry, now you follow trains!
0:10:19 > 0:10:22I do, I'm a trainspotter!
0:10:22 > 0:10:25- Is there any connection between sherry and trains?- Yes, a lot.
0:10:25 > 0:10:29Look, this is a book written by my grandfather and where he does a
0:10:29 > 0:10:33big description about the project of the railway
0:10:33 > 0:10:37to Jerez Puerto in 1829.
0:10:37 > 0:10:41This is about the time of the very earliest railways in England.
0:10:41 > 0:10:43So this is going down to the port?
0:10:43 > 0:10:46This is going down to the port of Santa Maria.
0:10:46 > 0:10:47This was a way to try
0:10:47 > 0:10:50and transport the barrels of wine
0:10:50 > 0:10:53in a faster way and in a better way.
0:10:53 > 0:10:58And the founder of this company, my great-great-grandfather,
0:10:58 > 0:11:02- he financed all that project. - So he was very forward-looking?
0:11:02 > 0:11:06Yes, and used to go all the way through the different
0:11:06 > 0:11:10sellers of the winery to fetch the barrels of wine.
0:11:10 > 0:11:14- So the railway wasn't just picking up from this bodega?- No, no.
0:11:14 > 0:11:20All the different wineries - or bodegas - had their own place
0:11:20 > 0:11:23to put all the barrels inside the train.
0:11:28 > 0:11:31Sherry is produced in a variety of styles, from the driest
0:11:31 > 0:11:35and palest fino to the darkest and smoothest oloroso.
0:11:36 > 0:11:40Probably the oldest brand is Tio Pepe.
0:11:40 > 0:11:42..Michael Portillo.
0:11:42 > 0:11:48- How do you do?- He's going to give us a glass of Tio Pepe.
0:11:48 > 0:11:50At last, I thought you'd never ask!
0:11:54 > 0:11:57Now, Gonzalo, how do we drink sherry?
0:11:57 > 0:11:59Well, in England, very badly!
0:11:59 > 0:12:02We failed in that - it's not your fault, it's our fault.
0:12:02 > 0:12:06We haven't shown people how to drink sherry properly.
0:12:06 > 0:12:11Two different ways - one way, because they don't have it cold.
0:12:11 > 0:12:14In the second way, they open it on Sunday lunch
0:12:14 > 0:12:17and after three months, they go back to it.
0:12:17 > 0:12:21A bottle of wine should be drank immediately.
0:12:21 > 0:12:22You're absolutely right.
0:12:22 > 0:12:25I remember I had some lovely aunts and they would always
0:12:25 > 0:12:28serve us a glass of sherry, but we might go there every three
0:12:28 > 0:12:31months and it would be the same bottle again and again and again!
0:12:31 > 0:12:32Then you agree with me?
0:12:32 > 0:12:34Yes, but I didn't realise it was a bad thing to do -
0:12:34 > 0:12:38- sherry doesn't last that long, no? - No, no. This is alive.
0:12:38 > 0:12:43So, two easy rules - drink it cold and drink it fast!
0:12:43 > 0:12:45To sherry and to the railways!
0:12:45 > 0:12:46- Thank you.- Thank you.
0:12:49 > 0:12:51- Mm!- How was that?
0:12:51 > 0:12:55- I- think it's pretty good! - Smell it, smell it.
0:12:55 > 0:12:56It's REALLY good!
0:12:59 > 0:13:02I can't think of a better way to finish my day than
0:13:02 > 0:13:05a glass of sherry, catching up with an old friend.
0:13:15 > 0:13:20A new day and I'm taking the Algeciras to Bobadilla line,
0:13:20 > 0:13:23climbing high into the Andalusian mountains.
0:13:27 > 0:13:29My next stop will be Ronda.
0:13:29 > 0:13:31Bradshaw's tells me "it's a finely-situated,
0:13:31 > 0:13:36"interesting town, 2,460 feet above sea,
0:13:36 > 0:13:38"on a projection of the Sierra Nevada,
0:13:38 > 0:13:42"in the midst of a magnificent range of mountains."
0:13:51 > 0:13:55Bradshaw's tells me that here in Ronda, the old
0:13:55 > 0:13:59Moorish town is separated from the modern quarter by the "tajo",
0:13:59 > 0:14:04an imposing gorge over the River Guadalevin,
0:14:04 > 0:14:06350 feet deep.
0:14:06 > 0:14:10This is known as the New Bridge, built in the 1790s, but the
0:14:10 > 0:14:13previous effort collapsed into the ravine
0:14:13 > 0:14:15with massive loss of life.
0:14:15 > 0:14:18You might think this is pretty unpromising territory
0:14:18 > 0:14:22for railway builders, but that would be to underestimate
0:14:22 > 0:14:26British engineers at the height of their powers.
0:14:31 > 0:14:34To discover more about how they tamed this rugged
0:14:34 > 0:14:38and inaccessible landscape, I'm travelling on the Ronda to
0:14:38 > 0:14:42Algeciras line, heading south towards my final stop, Gibraltar.
0:14:44 > 0:14:47I'm meeting railway enthusiast and guide Mani,
0:14:47 > 0:14:51who knows about the engineers' epic achievement.
0:14:56 > 0:14:59- Hello, Mani.- Hi, Michael.- Well met!
0:14:59 > 0:15:03I think this ride is quite a treat, isn't it? Beautiful scenery.
0:15:03 > 0:15:06- Yes, it really is. - Who built this railway line?
0:15:06 > 0:15:10It was built by the British, Greenwood and Company, out of London.
0:15:10 > 0:15:13- Did they have experience of difficult terrain?- Yes,
0:15:13 > 0:15:17they had been... The owner of the company was called Mr Henderson
0:15:17 > 0:15:19and together with Morrison, they'd already installed
0:15:19 > 0:15:23lots of the trains in South America, Uruguay, Paraguay, Argentina.
0:15:23 > 0:15:27So this was 180km through very, very difficult terrain,
0:15:27 > 0:15:30but to them, it wasn't too much of a challenge.
0:15:30 > 0:15:31For the British, there was
0:15:31 > 0:15:35also another reason for wanting to build the railway.
0:15:35 > 0:15:37Beyond the end of the line is Gibraltar,
0:15:37 > 0:15:41which was totally cut off and only reachable by sea.
0:15:41 > 0:15:43Originally, they wanted to take the train
0:15:43 > 0:15:44all the way to the border with Gibraltar
0:15:44 > 0:15:48and the Spanish didn't allow that - that's why this train
0:15:48 > 0:15:51finishes in the Spanish city of Algeciras. Because they couldn't
0:15:51 > 0:15:55take the train there, Mr Henderson's company had to build a link by sea
0:15:55 > 0:16:00and there were two steamboats that crossed the Bay of Gibraltar.
0:16:00 > 0:16:02With the line in place, soldiers stationed at the British
0:16:02 > 0:16:06garrison on Gibraltar had a chance to escape and relax,
0:16:06 > 0:16:08drawn by the excitement of the bullfights
0:16:08 > 0:16:11and the hilltop pleasures of the Ronda.
0:16:11 > 0:16:14And what were the challenges of the terrain?
0:16:14 > 0:16:17They were vast, one because of the elevation - climb -
0:16:17 > 0:16:20sea level to Ronda is 750m.
0:16:20 > 0:16:23And the second because of the actual terrain.
0:16:23 > 0:16:25We're just about to go into the gorge,
0:16:25 > 0:16:28we're following the track of the river, the Guadiaro River.
0:16:28 > 0:16:34They literally had to bevel out the tunnels from rock, from pure rock.
0:16:34 > 0:16:37They had to build a series of switchbacks over the river -
0:16:37 > 0:16:4116 tunnels and about six bridges.
0:16:41 > 0:16:44- Tunnel number one. - Tunnel number one!
0:16:44 > 0:16:46So what was the impact of this railway when it opened
0:16:46 > 0:16:49at the end of the 19th century, on the communities here?
0:16:49 > 0:16:52Vast - they called it railway fever.
0:16:52 > 0:16:55The great thing about this railway and I suppose all railways
0:16:55 > 0:16:59that opened at that time is that they transcended class.
0:16:59 > 0:17:00They were important for everybody,
0:17:00 > 0:17:03because all these communities were very,
0:17:03 > 0:17:07very cut off and it gave them all a vital lifeline to the rest of Spain.
0:17:07 > 0:17:11- What is the future of the railway? - Right now, it's up in the air.
0:17:11 > 0:17:13Renfe, the national rail company,
0:17:13 > 0:17:17they are studying the closure of about eight lines in Andalusia.
0:17:17 > 0:17:20It makes me very sad that this is one of the lines that might be close.
0:17:20 > 0:17:23- And is there a fuss going on about that?- Yes.
0:17:23 > 0:17:26A lot of people are reliant on this railway, not just for pleasure
0:17:26 > 0:17:30but to get to work, to get to school, to go shopping.
0:17:30 > 0:17:31So there's a campaign under way
0:17:31 > 0:17:36- and some poor politician has to make the decision!- I think so.
0:17:37 > 0:17:40My last stop by railway is Algeciras,
0:17:40 > 0:17:43which was very different in 1913 from what it is today.
0:17:45 > 0:17:49The then-quiet beaches are now obscured by a vast
0:17:49 > 0:17:52network of cranes, ships and lorries.
0:17:52 > 0:17:55It's Spain's second-busiest container port.
0:18:00 > 0:18:03Having constructed the railway line,
0:18:03 > 0:18:07Mr Henderson built a hotel for his travellers in Ronda.
0:18:07 > 0:18:10Its sister hotel is here in Algeciras.
0:18:12 > 0:18:15This irresistible advertisement in Bradshaw's guide has
0:18:15 > 0:18:18brought me to the hotel Reina Cristina.
0:18:18 > 0:18:22"Modern hotel, furnished by maples.
0:18:22 > 0:18:26"Frequent saloon steamers daily to and from Gibraltar.
0:18:26 > 0:18:29"Best sanitary arrangements."
0:18:29 > 0:18:34It's also the very first hotel to be built on the Costa Del Sol
0:18:34 > 0:18:38and very early in its history, it welcomed Winston Churchill
0:18:38 > 0:18:42to the Algeciras Conference to resolve the Moroccan Crisis.
0:18:45 > 0:18:49In 1905, Germany was eager to expand its empire to rival
0:18:49 > 0:18:51those of Britain and France.
0:18:51 > 0:18:55Kaiser Wilhelm landed in Morocco and controversially backed
0:18:55 > 0:18:59the Sultan in his bid for independence from France.
0:18:59 > 0:19:03The French were furious and the Algeciras Conference was
0:19:03 > 0:19:07called to try to get France and Germany to negotiate.
0:19:07 > 0:19:09A diplomatic solution was found,
0:19:09 > 0:19:13but Britain, France and Russia allied themselves against Germany.
0:19:14 > 0:19:17- Hola, buenas tardes.- Hola!
0:19:17 > 0:19:20Michael Portillo, por favor.
0:19:22 > 0:19:25The hotel became a firm favourite with the garrison officers
0:19:25 > 0:19:28in Gibraltar, who wanted to get off the Rock to relax,
0:19:28 > 0:19:31which is exactly what I'm going to do.
0:19:41 > 0:19:44Algeciras is very definitely in Spain, but this morning I've
0:19:44 > 0:19:50chosen an English breakfast, because Gibraltar is very close by and it's
0:19:50 > 0:19:54my next destination, so today, it's eggs, bacon and baked beans.
0:19:58 > 0:20:02Gibraltar is 2.5 square miles of Jurassic limestone,
0:20:02 > 0:20:06rising in a bold headland fronting the Straits of Africa.
0:20:06 > 0:20:09On a clear day, you appreciate how narrow those straits are
0:20:09 > 0:20:14and why that little stretch of water was so important to the British.
0:20:14 > 0:20:15For three centuries,
0:20:15 > 0:20:18British artillery on the Rock has been able to deny access to
0:20:18 > 0:20:22shipping from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean and vice versa.
0:20:22 > 0:20:26Given its strategic importance, you can see why
0:20:26 > 0:20:30the British have clung to it like a limpet to a rock.
0:20:37 > 0:20:41In 1704, the British took Gibraltar by force and ever since,
0:20:41 > 0:20:44there have been Anglo-Spanish tensions.
0:20:44 > 0:20:47The best place to understand why the British were prepared to
0:20:47 > 0:20:50fight to keep possession of Gibraltar is up here.
0:20:54 > 0:20:57BIRDSONG
0:20:57 > 0:20:59Hello.
0:21:09 > 0:21:14It's like taking off in a plane, the views come rushing into sight.
0:21:14 > 0:21:20We're going up 412m, so we're going up about the height
0:21:20 > 0:21:24of the very top of the Empire State Building in New York.
0:21:24 > 0:21:28I think the panorama today is going to be spectacular.
0:21:38 > 0:21:40Spain is laid out before me today like a map.
0:21:40 > 0:21:43The coastline snaking away there towards Malaga,
0:21:43 > 0:21:46and on that side towards, eventually, Portugal.
0:21:47 > 0:21:50Ronda will be up there, and then of course the railway
0:21:50 > 0:21:55snakes its way down to...Algeciras, there.
0:21:56 > 0:22:00And my early 20th-century travellers would then have taken
0:22:00 > 0:22:03a saloon steamer across here
0:22:03 > 0:22:04to Gibraltar.
0:22:11 > 0:22:14But my crow's-nest view also reveals why the British
0:22:14 > 0:22:16so badly wanted Gibraltar.
0:22:16 > 0:22:19It was only 14 miles away from the coast of North Africa
0:22:19 > 0:22:23and the waters were a shortcut for shipping through to the
0:22:23 > 0:22:26Mediterranean and the rest of the British Empire.
0:22:26 > 0:22:29Without access to Gibraltar, ships would have had to go all
0:22:29 > 0:22:32the way round the African coast, taking more time
0:22:32 > 0:22:34and more risks.
0:22:34 > 0:22:38With tensions over Africa hotting up between the European powers,
0:22:38 > 0:22:41Gibraltar looked as though it might be the front line in war.
0:22:43 > 0:22:47I'm meeting Prof Clive Finlayson, director of Gibraltar's museum.
0:22:47 > 0:22:48Clive, in 1913,
0:22:48 > 0:22:51we're only, as it turned out, a year away from war and already
0:22:51 > 0:22:55the colonial powers were in dispute over bits of North Africa.
0:22:55 > 0:22:57The visitor from Britain, clutching his Bradshaw's guide,
0:22:57 > 0:23:00what might he have noticed in Gibraltar at that time?
0:23:00 > 0:23:03Well, intense activity related to the dockyards
0:23:03 > 0:23:07and the whole of the port was built over a period of 12 years.
0:23:07 > 0:23:09That really transformed the whole of Gibraltar.
0:23:09 > 0:23:10There was intense quarrying,
0:23:10 > 0:23:13the whole physical landscape of Gibraltar changed completely.
0:23:13 > 0:23:15It was of course related to the fact that the British knew
0:23:15 > 0:23:18the German submarines, U-boats, posed a threat
0:23:18 > 0:23:20and they wanted to construct a torpedo-proof harbour.
0:23:20 > 0:23:22So that's what they would have seen.
0:23:22 > 0:23:27Was this traditionally the Royal Navy area of Gibraltar?
0:23:27 > 0:23:31Right from the start, in 1704, the port had been in the North,
0:23:31 > 0:23:33but suddenly, the enemy was in the North, so they had to move
0:23:33 > 0:23:38the harbour, the naval facility, away from the land and the guns.
0:23:38 > 0:23:40So it was brought here.
0:23:40 > 0:23:43Tunnels begun in the 18th century were used to store naval
0:23:43 > 0:23:46ammunition during the First World War.
0:23:46 > 0:23:48During the Second World War,
0:23:48 > 0:23:51they were developed into a clandestine network and Clive's got
0:23:51 > 0:23:55a recently-declassified top-secret surprise for me.
0:23:56 > 0:23:59Well, we've come through a huge number of tunnels - what was
0:23:59 > 0:24:01the purpose of this, Clive?
0:24:01 > 0:24:05Well, this was one of the most secret projects of the Second World War.
0:24:05 > 0:24:09The British planned that should Franco reach an agreement
0:24:09 > 0:24:14and allow Hitler through Spain, Germany took Gibraltar.
0:24:14 > 0:24:18Six men were prepared to entomb themselves,
0:24:18 > 0:24:25literally inside the Rock and spy on the Germans from the inside.
0:24:25 > 0:24:27It's a total James Bond story.
0:24:28 > 0:24:32So we're coming through another tunnel, we're now pointing west.
0:24:32 > 0:24:36If you don't mind, to go up there and look through that little slit.
0:24:36 > 0:24:37Ho!
0:24:38 > 0:24:42This tiny slit, which can only be what, six inches long
0:24:42 > 0:24:46and half an inch wide, I can see all the bay down to Algeciras...
0:24:47 > 0:24:51And actually, I can see down to the wharfs of Gibraltar as well.
0:24:51 > 0:24:55An absolutely perfectly-planned lookout.
0:24:55 > 0:24:58From inside, you could see any movement of enemy ships
0:24:58 > 0:25:02and then push an aerial out at night when nobody is watching
0:25:02 > 0:25:04and transmit that information back to London.
0:25:04 > 0:25:07Hopefully, they'd be able to come and re-take Gibraltar.
0:25:09 > 0:25:13Having served as Defence Secretary, I can appreciate here that the
0:25:13 > 0:25:16Rock is the best sentry box in the Mediterranean.
0:25:18 > 0:25:19Although the Rock was bombed
0:25:19 > 0:25:24during the Second World War, Nazi Germany did not invade Gibraltar.
0:25:25 > 0:25:27But in the years after the war,
0:25:27 > 0:25:30struggles between Spain's military leader General Franco
0:25:30 > 0:25:35and the British have left their mark on its 30,000 inhabitants.
0:25:35 > 0:25:39To find out how it's affected this multinational population,
0:25:39 > 0:25:41I'm meeting local, Tito Vallejo.
0:25:41 > 0:25:45- Hello, Tito.- Hello, Mike. How are you?- Good to see you.
0:25:45 > 0:25:48I see you're here with your fish and chips
0:25:48 > 0:25:50and of course I see the post-boxes
0:25:50 > 0:25:53and telephone boxes - all of it very reminiscent of the UK.
0:25:53 > 0:25:56But you're a Gibraltarian - what does that mean, really?
0:25:56 > 0:26:00We are British, obviously, British subjects, but the English
0:26:00 > 0:26:02usually call us Spanish and the Spanish call of English.
0:26:02 > 0:26:04But we cannot say that,
0:26:04 > 0:26:07because we have our own roots - for example, I am half and half.
0:26:07 > 0:26:10Given there are so many nationalities in Gibraltar,
0:26:10 > 0:26:11why are they so pro-British?
0:26:11 > 0:26:12I wonder if it's partly
0:26:12 > 0:26:15because of the difficulties that there have been with Spain.
0:26:15 > 0:26:19That is one of the main problems. The constant strangulation of Gibraltar.
0:26:19 > 0:26:23It didn't intensify until the Queen came to Gibraltar in 1954.
0:26:23 > 0:26:26Franco got annoyed.
0:26:26 > 0:26:28He said, from now on, I'm going to strangle Gibraltar
0:26:28 > 0:26:32and I want it back. From then on, things started to heat up.
0:26:32 > 0:26:33Because of that rift,
0:26:33 > 0:26:37our young children are now losing the way of speaking Spanish.
0:26:37 > 0:26:40It's a very great pity about that.
0:26:40 > 0:26:43- How do you describe your nationality or ethnicity?- British.
0:26:43 > 0:26:46British to the core. But how about you? You're in the same boat!
0:26:46 > 0:26:49Well, I regard myself as British AND Spanish,
0:26:49 > 0:26:53but I think they're both so different and so marvellous
0:26:53 > 0:26:58and so distinct, I don't see them being put together in one country.
0:27:02 > 0:27:06I find it frustrating that Spain and Britain are in dispute.
0:27:06 > 0:27:10If the two countries could only work together, Gibraltarians
0:27:10 > 0:27:13and Spaniards could reap richer rewards.
0:27:17 > 0:27:21I've travelled down across Spain on fast and efficient trains,
0:27:21 > 0:27:24quite a change since my guide book was written.
0:27:24 > 0:27:27The early 20th-century traveller would have been struck at the end
0:27:27 > 0:27:29of the journey as I am that Africa
0:27:29 > 0:27:32is almost within touching distance.
0:27:32 > 0:27:36Invaders from there occupied Spain for centuries.
0:27:36 > 0:27:41Perhaps that helps to explain why, for all its modernity,
0:27:41 > 0:27:46in its food, its customs, its dances and its architecture,
0:27:46 > 0:27:51Spain remains today unlike anywhere else in Europe.
0:27:59 > 0:28:02Next time, I find out how the Edwardian traveller
0:28:02 > 0:28:05discovered a love of the high life.
0:28:05 > 0:28:08A traveller with my Bradshaw's guide in 1913 could have gone
0:28:08 > 0:28:12- up in a plane and seen this wonderful view.- Absolutely.
0:28:12 > 0:28:14And on the Grand Canal,
0:28:14 > 0:28:17I hear about the amorous conquests
0:28:17 > 0:28:20- of Venice's most famous son. - Casanova loved women.
0:28:20 > 0:28:22He only had 130 lovers.
0:28:22 > 0:28:24- That's extremely moderate. - Absolutely!
0:28:27 > 0:28:29Viva Italia!