Gibraltar Tunnel Project Stalls: 40-Year Dream of Morocco-Spain Rail Link Remains Unrealized

Will this railway link through an underwater tunnel become a reality one day? Launched in 1981, the project is struggling to materialize. Two companies: a Moroccan SNED, and the Spanish Secegsa have been tasked with carrying out studies after Hassan II and Juan Carlos I signed a joint declaration of intent in this regard in 1980. This year, this project was relaunched during the 43rd high-level Morocco-Spain meeting. "It is politically significant that, after fourteen years, since Tangier in October 2009, we are giving impetus to the studies of a project of maximum geostrategic importance for our countries and for the relations between Europe and Africa," the Minister of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, Raquel Sánchez, said in April.

Morocco and Spain have agreed to establish a work plan for the next three years. This includes the analysis of the feasibility of building an exploratory gallery to identify the geomechanical characteristics, which could be of great use for telecommunications. Secegsa has received a budget allocation of 2.3 million euros from the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR), reports El Debate. The Spanish company is currently working on exploring the possibility of building a transportation channel for telecommunications and energy.

The project of a tunnel under the Strait of Gibraltar will connect Morocco and Spain, but also Africa and Europe. This railway link will help reduce transport and logistics costs and promote trade between the two continents. It will also facilitate the movement of people and strengthen the ties between the African and European peoples.