Rock of Gibraltar may have originated from an escape of North African animals transported to Spain; it is also possible that the original Gibraltar macaques are a remnant of populations that are known to have spread throughout Southern Europe during the Pliocene, up to 5.5 million years ago. Some animals of the Rock have been reintroduced by the Alameda Wildlife Conservation Park who have three Barbary macaques. The Rock of Gibraltar, at the head of the Strait, is a prominent headland, which accumulates migrating birds during the passage periods. The vegetation on the Rock, unique in southern Iberia, provides a temporary home for
Effect of Brexit on Gibraltar a European Parliament committee in May that the finance industry in Gibraltar is essential to the economy of the Rock, and that the industry was resigned to a loss of access to the EU market but had been given firm assurances that Gibraltar would have greater access to UK markets which will bring opportunities, including "automatic access to the United Kingdom in banking, insurance, investment services and any other similar area where cross-border directives currently apply". On 18 October 2018, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced that he had reached an agreement with Britain, declaring the Gibraltar protocol "resolved" and