Nuffield Pool aka Europa Pool

The Nuffield Pool, close to the tip of Gibraltar, at Europa Point, was built on the site of a WWII prisoner of war camp. In one of the photographs you can see Nissen huts that were last used to house German prisoners up to June 1947, when the last were repatriated. The camp was partially dismantled in the 1950’s to create the pool. At the time it was only for service personnel and their families and supported by the Nuffied Trust, hence the name.  The Nuffield Trust is a charity that finances recreational and welfare amenities and facilities for the Armed Forces, but which are not provided by public funds.

The pool remained as a forces facility for many years and was also known as the NAAFI pool as that organisation had an outlet on the site.

The pool was handed over by the Ministry of Defence to the Gibraltar Government as part of the 2011 Lands Agreement. Prior to that, it had been managed by a private developer for a few years at no cost. It continued to be so until 2018 when the annual contract was not awarded and the pool was closed for the season.

At some point, the pool appears to have been shortened to form a small children’s pool at the shallow end. We have not been able to find any date for this although the shortened pool appears on the historic aerial images from 2003. The small pool appears on the image where Nissen huts are still present so we have to say this is unconfirmed unless any readers can clarify?

The concrete diving platforms have been removed but again, this is difficult to date.

Funding was allocated for a refurbishment and overhaul of the surrounding area with £150,000 being spent on the pool and a further £400,000 on the surrounds creating a wider sports complex and recreation area. This was ready for the 2019 Island Games that were hosted by Gibraltar, and a new beach volleyball court was added to the pool.

There also appears to have been a square children’s pool on the beach side of the pool that was covered with spectator seating for the Games, but aerial images show this filled with water as late as 2023 but seems to have been infilled by 2025.

As we cannot access Ordnance Survey maps of the island it is more difficult to track the history so any confirming or additional information would be most welcome.

2003

2016

2023