I Wonder Why...?

Gibraltar’s historical role as a fortress guarding the maritime passage east-west through the Strait connecting the Mediterranean Sea with the Atlantic Ocean and narrowly separating the European and African Continents is well known. Its limited land area and its role as a fortress have combined to make the demand for underground facilities a pressing local problem of applied geology, and stimulated almost uniquely imaginative solutions to maximise protection and survival of both civilian and military personnel.  Around half a kilometer under the Rock of Gibraltar lies a system of tunnels from where the Allies planned the North African landings during World War II.

The tunnels of Gibraltar, constructed over the course of nearly 200 years principally by the British Army, have made the Rock of Gibraltar "a veritable warren of tunnels that housed guns, hangars, ammunition stores, barracks and hospitals". Within a land area of only 2.6 square miles (6.7 km2), Gibraltar has around 34 miles (55 km) of tunnels, nearly twice the length of its entire road network. The first tunnels, excavated in the late 18th century, served as communication passages between artillery positions and housed guns within embrasures cut into the North Face of the Rock. More tunnels were constructed in the 19th century to allow easier access to remote areas of Gibraltar and accommodate stores and reservoirs to deliver the water supply of Gibraltar.

Now, this underground network has also been transformed into a digital data center where information about online gamblers and investors from all over the world is stored, zealously protected from cyber attacks by spectacular security measures. Here customer data from clients as far-flung as Bermuda, Bilbao and Hamburg is kept in colossal servers, hidden away from prying eyes. The tunnel system was the property of the British Ministry of Defence until 2008 when it was handed over to the Gibraltar government, which has since rented it out to a private company specializing in data management.

The past now lives alongside cutting-edge technology, which is being used to garner profits from the booming online gambling industry based in Gibraltar. Financial services companies and e-commerce firms also store data here. Security is watertight: the area is monitored by CCTV and anybody entering the area must have special passcodes and keys.