Gibraltar hosts cross-border Bloomsday celebrations

Gibraltar hosted part of a programme of cross-border activities marking Bloomsday on June 16, organised jointly by Gibraltar Cultural Services and La Línea City Council. 

Visitors took part in “A James Joyce Journey from Gibraltar to La Línea”, which began at the Alameda Gardens before continuing with a free talk by Ulysses expert Charles Durante at the BookGem bookshop. 

The programme also included a traditional Bloomsday lunch at The Clipper in Irish Town featuring pie, mash and Guinness. 

Celebrations later moved to La Línea, where activities continued at the Museo Cruz Herrera with a performance of Rebecca Calderon’s sequel, “¡A Mariana No Se Le Miente!”, which introduced Spanish characters in a new production. 

Bloomsday concluded at Pub Molly Bloom with traditional songs, music and a live pianist. 

The La Línea councillors for Culture and Tourism, Raquel Ñeco and Mercedes Atanet, attended the activities held in Gibraltar. 

Bloomsday commemorates the events of James Joyce’s novel Ulysses, which follows a day in the life of Leopold Bloom in Dublin on June 16, 1904. 

The novel’s female protagonist, Molly Bloom, is a Gibraltarian whose mother, Lunita Laredo, is from La Línea. Throughout the novel, Molly recalls her childhood in Gibraltar and the Campo, while references are made to locations including Irish Town, the market, the bullring and the Alameda Gardens. 

In 2025, Gibraltar held its first Bloomsday event. As part of those celebrations, local writer Rebecca Calderon wrote and produced the original play “Molly’s a Llanita!”, which was performed beside the Molly Bloom statue in the Alameda Gardens.