Notes from our Archive From the Gibraltar Directory of 1909:

During the last twenty-five years the methods of travel near Gibraltar, which had previously remained practically unaltered ever since the Rock first came into the possession of Great Britain, over 200 years ago, have been entirely revolutionised.

The construction of the road from Algeciras to Tarifa during the late "seventies" was the first real advance made, since it enabled wheeled transport to be employed for the first time between Algeciras and the railway near Cadiz. Before that period, the only means of communication between the Rock and the interior of Spain was by means of riding horses and pack animals.

A yet greater advance was made when the Algeciras-Bobadilla railway was opened in 1890, whereby Gibraltar was for the first time placed in direct communication with the railway system of Spain and Europe. The railway has in its turn led to the construction of various roads such as that from the town of San Roque to the Station of that name and others from Algeciras to Los Barrios, &c., and slowly but surely, wheeled transport is being introduced into many parts of the country.

Image: Gibraltar from the north-west. 19th century watercolour