Gibraltar monkey finally captured in Spain's La Linea de la Concepción two days after crossing over the border

The primate wandered around the Spanish town evading capture until it was cornered by police, with the help of the Rock's macaque management team

Soraya Fernández

Cadiz

Tuesday, 6 February 2024 | Updated 07/02/2024 08:32h.

A monkey that crossed from Gibraltar into La Linea de la Concepción and wandered through the Spanish border town's streets for two days, much to the bemusement of onlookers, was finally captured on Tuesday 6 February.

The primate even wandered around two secondary schools, Menéndez Tolosa and Virgen de la Esperanza, evading police efforts to capture it. The sight came as a surprise as the animals live in the upper part of the Rock of Gibraltar, so it is not known how it reached the town in Spain.

In the British colony it is common to see the macaques in the lower parts of the Rock looking for food and surprising tourists. The primate is still at large with the Gibraltar macaque management team and the Rock's environment department confirmed to SUR they were in constant contact with Spanish police about capturing the primate.

Social media lit up with hundreds of comments and memes about the bizarre incident, with some joking that the macaque has "colonised" La Línea de la Concepción, or is sending a clear message for a Brexit deal to be done now.

Legend has it that as long as there are monkeys on the Rock, Gibraltar will remain British. Former British minister Winston Churchill commissioned elite soldiers in 1914 on a secret mission to repopulate the colony with animals from Africa, as there were fewer than ten monkeys left on the Rock.

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