UNITED KINGDOM – Gibraltar // You Only Live Twice (1967) & The Living Daylights (1987)

The famous opening scene from “The Living Daylights” shows all of Gibraltar – from the mountain top to the yacht harbour. But it wasn’t the only time, Bond visited the peninsula.

Why Bond was here
In “The Living Daylights” the MI6 sends some 00-agents to a training exercise – including James Bond (Timothy Dalton). The goal is to infiltrate the SAS base at Gibraltar, the agents are using paint rounds. But there is an assassin in the game using real ammunition – and killing both 004 and several SAS guards. So Bond pursues the killer and brings him to a watery grave.
Speaking of which: The at-sea burial of James Bond (this time Sean Connery) at the beginning of “You Only Live Twice” does take place in the harbour of Hong Kong. But it was filmed off Gibraltar, using the Royal Navy frigate HMS Tenby.

How you gonna get there
Gibraltar may be british, but the peninsula is located at southern Spain. So you either have to catch a flight directly into Gibraltar or visit the United Kingdom via Andalucia. Since nearby Malaga and Cadiz offer famous Bond locations as well, you might want to extend your stay. When coming from Spain, the best option is to visit via car and park outside Gibraltar. You can cross the border on foot – and then the runway as well. A traffic light warns you for incoming planes. The small peninsula itself has quite an extensive bus network. Lines 2, 4 and 9 run from the central market to Alameda House, from were you can catch the cable car to the top of the mountain. 

Up at Gibraltar, there are many Bond locations to discover. These are the spots of the pursuit:

• Bond starts his run at Douglas Path.
• He then jumps at the Land Rover at the junction of Rock Gun Road and Signal Station Road.
• The car then drives along St. Michael Road with monkeys looking at the chase on Queen’s Road.
• The Land Rover goes off the cliff at Queen’s Gate above Prince Ferdinand’s Battery.
• As Bond parachutes into safety he lands on a yacht in the Gibraltar harbor.

The best view on the site of the sea burial in “You Only Live Twice” is at the southernmost tip at Europa Point. With good weather conditions you will recognize the Moroccan coastline in the south. It’s the supposed Hong Kong background from Bond’s burial.

Good to know
Gibraltar is a massive mountain – and that’s what the peninsula is most famous for. The name derives from the Arabic “Djabal Tariq”, Tariq’s Mountain. It was used as strategic military base to control the narrow entry into the Mediterranean Sea over centuries. Nowadays the mountain is a famous nature reserve and good for hiking. You can easily visit Gibraltar within a day. But make sure to come early, if you want to visit the old town center or the light house at Europa Point as well. Otherwise you will get lost when roaming the mountain top.

Visiting the Rock: Impressions from Gibraltar

Your journey atop Gibraltar will probably start at the cable car top station at Signal Hill. The restaurant there is okayish, but the view is great. The Gibraltar famous barbary macaques also roam the place, so take good care of your belongings. Some Bond locations are to the north, so we recommend walking along Signal Road first, then make a turn to visit the locations south.
If you did your Bond sightseeing, opt for the Gibraltar Skywalk and St. Michael’s Cave. The latter is a vast network of limestone caves inside the Gibraltar mountain. Legend has it, there is a subterranean passage to Africa, that the macaques once used to get to Europe. (In reality they probably were brought in by merchants, but write us if you found the hidden tunnel!) The caves are illuminated in bright and psychadelic colors, turning your cave journey more into “Alice in Wonderland” than “Raiders of the Lost Arc”.

Coming to Gibraltar was a beautiful trip for us and our daughter. Discovering the peninsula is a huge adventure and lots of places like the St. Michael’s Cave or the Skywalk are great for children. Take good care of the monkeys though. It is strictly forbidden to feed them. Sadly, some private tour guides lure the macaques with candy bars to offer selfie opportunities. Thus the monkeys love to grab bags and “attack” you to steal your belongings. We had a heavy one on Julias shoulders on our way to Douglas Path who needed a good push to leave again. But other than that you should not experience any other enemy action.

© 2023 Huntingbond (1,3,gallery), © 1987 Danjaq S.A. & MGM/United Artists Telecommunications. (2)