A Gibraltarian Visits…Gibraltar (Michigan)!

The Gibraltarian academic Professor David Álvarez, who is based in Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids, Michigan (U.S) recently made a trip to Gibraltar, a small city with under 5,000 people in the same state. 

Spurred by his curiosity about a place with the same name as his hometown, David visited the city and noted some striking coincidences. 

For a start, the city has a boat yard as it lies on the shores of Lake Erie. This yard reminded him of the old Sheppard’s marina. Then he saw a yard sign in support of a “Camilleri” running for the state senate elections—“Camilleri”, of course, is a well-known Llanito/Maltese surname. 

With a museum, a fire station, a lighthouse and a small history book that he said reminded him of Dorothy Ellicott’s works, David saw numerous chance connections between the Michigan city and the Rock. 

During his time there, he also encountered a police officer who gave him two badges as mementoes of his visit. 

David says he’d been meaning to visit the place for years but it’s located far away from where he lives, right on the other side of the state to the south of Detroit.