Discover San Roque

History

The town of San Roque is closely linked to Gibraltar. The Most Noble and Most Loyal Town of San Roque, where the town of Gibraltar resides, was officially founded in 1706. However, this typical white Andalusian village was established by the Spanish inhabitants of Gibraltar on 4 August 1704.

The foundation was an unprecedented historical milestone: a powerful Anglo-Dutch fleet, commanded by Admiral Rooke, seized Gibraltar Square and raised the Anglo-Saxon flag during the War of the Succession. Five thousand proud Spanish Gibraltarians refused the British offer to remain in the city, leaving en bloc and settling on this hill, where the ancient Hermitage of San Roque, dating from 1508, was located a short distance from the usurped city.

The inhabitants of the Rock brought with them as many of their belongings and precious relics as they could. Examples of Gibraltar’s legacy are evidenced by the Gibraltar Banner (1502), said to have been embroidered by Juana la Loca, or the Cédula Real (1502), granted by the Catholic Monarchs granting titles, authorities and coat of arms to Gibraltar. In addition, the Church of Santa María la Coronada houses numerous images from the 14th to the 18th century brought from Gibraltar. The ecclesiastical archives of Gibraltar from 1556 to 1704 are also kept in the church. The Historical Archives contain the municipal archives of the Gibraltar Town Council from 1502 to 1704.

The old town has been a Historic-Artistic Monumental Site since 1975. The most outstanding monuments in the town are the Church of Santa María la Coronada (1735), the Palace of the Governors (18th century) and the Bullring (1853), the second oldest in the province of Cádiz and one of the oldest in Andalusia. The most picturesque streets are San Felipe (ancestral homes with typical courtyards), San Nicolás and Historiador Montero. The most emblematic square is the Plaza de Armas where the Pase de Muleta was invented in 1720. The town currently has five permanent exhibitions: the Municipal Museum: Carteia Section (archaeology), Luis Ortega Brú Section (sculpture and imagery), the Bullfighting Museum (local history of the Fiesta Nacional), the permanent exhibition of the San Roque actor Juan Luis Galiardo and the CB Radio Museum, the only one of its kind in Europe. The most important fiesta is the Semana Santa (Holy Week), declared of National Tourist Interest in Andalusia. The Magna Procession on Good Friday is the most important. It is the only one held annually in Andalusia and includes fourteen different images. The other major festive date is the Feria Real in August, which ends with the release of the Toro del Aguardiente, which dates back to 1649. San Roque is the historic centre of the Campo de Gibraltar. A sightseeing tour of the town is a must when you first arrive in the area.

General Information

San Roque is synonymous with sun, beaches, sport, nature, good food, health, wellbeing and glamour. A thousand and one adjectives could define it: welcoming, adventurous, singular, impressive, atypical, fascinating, unrepeatable, unique or idyllic. This municipality, located between two continents, Europe and Africa, right where the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean meet, has become a tailor-made tourist destination, where time stands still and yields to the passage of those who decide to visit it, lending itself only to the enjoyment of its visitors.

Museums

The cultural offer of San Roque is very rich and varied. Among the different activities on offer to the visitor eager for cultural experiences are our different museums, which range from art to archaeology, from bullfighting to cinema and amateur radio, as well as exhibition halls with different themes. This opens up a wide range of possibilities for visitors who are looking for alternative leisure activities and who want to learn more about the rich history and heritage of the town of San Roque.

Ortega Brú Museum

The ground floor of the spectacular Palacio de los Gobernadores houses the museum dedicated to Luis Ortega Brú, a sculptor and image maker from San Roque considered in specialised circles to be one of the best of the 20th century.

This museum houses some of his most emblematic pieces, as well as different studies and prototypes of religious figures that can be found scattered throughout Spain and even Latin America.

Amateur Radio Museum

When we say that the cultural offer of San Roque is exceptional, we don’t just say it. The CB Museum, located in the Alameda, is literally unique in its kind and is one more reason (as if we were lacking!) to visit our town. It is the only museum in Europe dedicated to the exhibition of CB-27 MHz transmitters and the world of radio amateurs, and entering it means opening up to a fascinating world unknown to many.

Other exhibitions

If, with all the above, our visitor is still hungry for cultural experiences, there is still more! In the Palace of the Governors, which is worth a visit in itself, you can also find three other exhibition halls, one of them, the “Luis Ortega Brú” gallery, dedicated to temporary exhibitions covering a wide range of subjects, from photography to ceramics and historical objects.

On the other hand, in the palace we can find two rooms dedicated to two master painters. The first of these is dedicated to Daniel Castilla Zurita, a painter born in San Roque in 1916, and contains various oil paintings of landscapes and portraits. Among these, the one he painted of Luis Ortega Brú stands out, whose museum can be visited on the ground floor of the Palacio de los Gobernadores, and which perfectly captures his essence. Other works show us his particular sense of colour, with works that leave no one indifferent.

Next we have a room dedicated to José Cruz Herrero, one of the most distinguished Andalusian painters of the last century, born in the neighbouring town of La Línea de la Concepción. With a masterful sense of colour and light, Cruz Herrera dedicated his pictorial work to following the path of the so-called Andalusian orientalist. In this room we can admire different portraits and sketches, which attest to the exceptional nature of this artist.

Carteia

Talking about the Archaeological Site of Carteia means stopping, for a moment, in the historical relevance of our region. This enclave, located in the municipality, is undoubtedly one of the most important sites in the Iberian Peninsula due to its historical relevance, as the Strait of Gibraltar has always been not only a place of natural passage but also of geostrategic importance that has been known since ancient times. The city of Carteia has a Phoenician origin, founded in the 7th century BC, in a location that is not the current one. This first settlement was located in what is known as Cerro del Prado, at the mouth of the Guadarranque river, where various archaeological remains have been found, although it is not currently open to visitors. In the 4th century B.C. and for natural reasons, due to the successive silting up of the river and for strategic interests, the Carthaginians (or Punics), the current occupants of the city, decided to relocate the city to where we know it today. From this period we can see in our museum the foundational deposit of the city, a true marvel that continues to surprise us with its religious and political implications. Carteia, well known in antiquity thanks to written sources, was a strategic point not only because it controlled the Strait of Gibraltar, a hot spot throughout history, but also because it became a prosperous city that lived from trade and the exploitation of the rich natural resources surrounding it. However, after Rome’s victory in the Punic Wars, the city began a new era of splendour under the rule of the new masters of the Mediterranean.