The Rock stands like a towering beacon for the 80,000 ships crossing the Straits of Gibraltar every year. Gibraltar may appear to be little else but an ancient rock on the tip of Southern Spain, but this offshore tax haven is home to an increasingly vibrant hive of shipping-related activity. Gib, as the British call it, is strategically located on shipping routes between the Mediterranean and the Suez Canal. Renowned for being a bunkering station, the Rock now boasts one of the EU's fastest-growing ship registries. Financial services, tourism and shipping are the tree pillars of the local economy. According to Gibraltar's Ministry of Transport and Tourism, shipping-related business now generates up to 30 per cent of the Rock's annual economy.
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