Rock of Jabal al-Tariq

Sunset had transformed the Strait of Gibraltar into streaks of flowing magenta and fuchsia scarves.

Feeling the last rays of sun penetrate his cream woollen pullover, Stanley peered through a telescope at Morocco’s Atlas Mountains, which lay as misty peaks within his imaginary grasp some ten miles away.

He had arrived in Gibraltar a day earlier, fascinated by the novelty of this limestone rock that adjoined Spain but that was one of Britain’s last remaining colonies. He soon discovered that aside from the sight of red double-decker buses and red phone boxes transplanted on to a distinctly Spanish-looking town, there was little else to interest him.