
Coaling Island is an area of
reclaimed land
Land reclamation, often known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new land from oceans, seas, riverbeds or lake beds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamatio ...
in the
British Overseas Territory
The British Overseas Territories (BOTs) or alternatively referred to as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs) are the fourteen dependent territory, territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom that, ...
of
Gibraltar
Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...
. It is located at the centre of the western end of
Gibraltar Harbour as one of its
industrial zones. It also serves to harbour
Cormorant Camber which berths small boats. The
Royal Gibraltar Yacht Club was located there after the Ministry of Defence Boat Squadron freed up the site.
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
there was a fire at Coaling Island. A Spaniard, José Martín Muñoz, who was working in Gibraltar created an explosion and fire at a fuel tank on 30 June 1943. Because of this he was under scrutiny and in August he was arrested as he attempted to place a bomb inside
Ragged Staff Magazine. Muñoz was later
hanged by
Albert Pierrepoint
Albert Pierrepoint ( ; 30 March 1905 – 10 July 1992) was an English Executioner, hangman who executed between 435 and 600 people in a 25-year career that ended in 1956. His father Henry Pierrepoint, Henry and uncle Thomas Pierrepoint, Th ...
.
In 2012, a
Mediterranean monk seal was spotted on the jetty of the private boat owners club at Coaling Island.
References
Areas of Gibraltar
{{Gibraltar-geo-stub