Catalan Bay

Catalan Bay, known in Spanish as ‘La Caleta’, is a small bay and fishing village in Gibraltar on the eastern side of the Rock outside the main city. 

During the nineteenth century, only fishermen were permitted to live in Catalan Bay, mostly speeking Genoese, effectively Gibraltars unofficial third official language at the time. They were required to have a fishing permit granted to them by the Governor and only a limited number of permits were issued. There was no access road to the main city until the turn of the twentieth century.

Today, Catalan Bay is home to Gibraltar's most iconic beach and (for the most part) the descendants of these Genoese fishermen who once lived there.