I occasionally drive across to go shopping, but very rarely is this for food.

Generally I cross over to go to Portugal

Sunday a week ago I travelled back to Gib from Portugal having shopped for food in Lidl Portugal, Also bought some clothing in a Portuguese Chinese shop. I did stop in Lidls carpark in Puente but only to phone a friend to let him know I would be trying to return some borrowed tools, lidls was closed

At the moment I am planning a trip to Melilla last visited on the 31st February 1995.

It's quite a bit of a drive to Portugal - I take it this isn't just a day trip? Never been to Melilla or Ceuta but if you have memories from there from 30 years ago it should be an interesting trip down memory lane.

Can people from Gibraltar move to the UK anytime and vice versa or do people need to jump through bureaucratic hoops to move in either direction?

3 1/2 Hrs to Portugal depending on traffic.

I have been going to Ceuta for almost 50 years

I have only been to Melilla once for a few hours during Ramadan but would like to go back for a longer more relaxed visit.

To the best of my knowledge Gibratarians can move to UK easily. However I was born in UK so no problems for me.

3.5 hrs isn't too bad, especially if it's a weekend trip or longer. Same day return... probably not as much fun but still doable.

What's Ceuta like? Does it feel like Spain at all or more like a heavily-fortified and ring-fenced enclave?

I keep looking at options of where to move to in a few years' time and as Gibraltar is a major hub for the industry I'm in it will always be on the radar. But I'd also like to be somewhere where I can legally continue to live even if I were to retire one day. Gibraltar is English-speaking, has lots of sun and you can drive over to Spain/Portugal (hopefully the border issues will get resolved) so overall it seems to tick a lot of boxes.

Ceuta is very Spanish with a touch of Morocco
It is not a concrete jungle like Gib with plenty of open countryside.

I would not consider Gib until after EES comes into force and its effect are known.
English is the countries language although Spanish is widely spoken.
The Gibraltar £ is the currency, however the UK £ is also prevalent both currencies being used with equal value
Uk three pin 13 amp plugs, BSP water fittings.
However there are two water supply's with salt water being used for toilets
There is an airport, but only flights to UK.
UK TV.

It might be a while before EES is implemented. Not too worried about it as it's an area where automation might actually work and speed up the process, though it might catch-out overstayers from the UK who apparently (if you believe the stats) have never been removed from Spain. Very strange statistic indeed that is surely not a coincidence...

Local versions of the Pound are a unique thing because I've seen them in places like Alderney and I know Scotland has its own banknotes as well. It's technically 1:1 which is great and stable though using the physical currency only works in one direction: UK banknotes accepted elsewhere but not the other way around. But I assume it's a non-issue if you live in Gib and only a problem if you're a tourist that departed with some local currency left in their wallet.
UK plugs suit me just fine, continued to use them in Singapore for several years and half my stuff is on them.
Only thing that worries me is the airport and flights only to the UK - I take it the use of Malaga airport is the main option for other destinations (though I bet most routes from there are also to the UK)?

I always ask for Bank of England notes when getting change in Gibraltar, and it's been no problems.

Malaga has flights to a lot of places in Europe besides UK, as there is a very busy holiday traffic. You can now fly non-stop to US and Canada, and Qatar (Doha), with connections to Australia, NZ, Japan, SE Asia, India and Africa.

Please note that the only people who can cross the frontier into Spain to shop or for meals etc. are red ID card holders or people with EU passports.
The rest of the world can only cross if they have booked accommodation.
At the moment it takes a minimum of five years to obtain a red ID card

EU residents with ID card can also cross into Spain no problem at all. It's really only third country nationals who have problems.

I don't know what it is about Spanish border guards but they can spot a non EU passport from 50 paces! But don't let that put you off visiting Gibraltar, we have always found Spanish border force to be helpful.

Fred is right to warn about EES because it will change everything for non EU nationals - assuming no deal is agreed which is looking increasingly likely. I hope the Gibraltarian government can negotiate freedom of movement for Gibraltarian red card holders.

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I currently have a Spanish residency permit so I think this wouldn't be an issue (at least today)... but if I were to become a resident of Gibraltar then that permit would be cancelled. Does this mean that all new Gibraltar residents who are not EU citizens cannot hop across the border easily for the first 5+ years?

I assume non-EU citizens resident in Spain also have no issues? As you mentioned Spanish border guards are probably some of the best in identifying who is who in today's world - they should organise an annual competition with the Polish border guards who have to contend with 7 international borders but sure know how to show who's boss when the need arises.

On a side note, why is everyone worried about EES? Doesn't this mean fast-tracking every single entry/exit for normal people?

@ astera, all EU nationals and EU residents can freely cross the border into Spain, no questions asked. It is only no EU nationals who do not hold residency from an EU state that are barred from entry into Spain unless they have a good reason - I was behind a woman in the US military once and she was having a hard time leaving Spain to go to Gibraltar and was told she might not get back in.

All EU nationals and EU residents (with ID card) will be exempt from EES and ETIAS. The right wing British rags don't seem to like the idea of the new system despite voting for it and the UK government being instrumental in its development while EU members. It's probably because it will be impossible to cheat the system and overstay and it will cause a lot of delays for third country nationals at busy airports, places like Dover, St Pancras and Gibraltar of course.

40 years ago today Spain opened it's frontier gates giving full access to Gibraltar for the first time since 1969.

Hopefully the UK will at least region the single market in the future and travel will become easier again.

On a side note, with GIB only having flights to/from the UK, is AGP (Malaga) the nearest significant airport in Spain? Seems like quite a bit of a drive at 126km but it looks like a beautiful journey along the coast.

Then again to get to the Canary Islands it wouldn't hurt to try a ferry from Cadiz...

Not really. The N340 coast road is one of the most crowded and dangerous roads in Spain!

Oh, so not a pleasant drive to AGP then? On days that it gets crowded could you get to Sevilla faster?