New Maritime Route to Connect Spain’s Huelva Port with Casablanca, Morocco

24 October 2021 – byPrince@Bladi · 2 min read

The port of Huelva plans to open a line with Casablanca. It will be dedicated exclusively to the transport of goods for a good part of the year, but could also provide passenger transport during the summer, as it already does with the Canary Islands.

Since Morocco is not a member of the European Union, it is necessary for the Spanish government to ask the community institution to consider the port of Huelva as a border of the Schengen area. The port authority has started this advocacy with the local executive, who will in turn defend the idea with the Andalusian executive. The government delegate in Huelva, Pedro Fernández, confirmed to Huelva Información that "the integration of Huelva into the Schengen area is necessary to start passenger transport outside the borders of this area..."

This project to establish a line between Huelva and Casablanca began to mature after the port of Huelva sent commercial missions to Morocco. Noting the tourist attraction that the city of Casablanca is the object of, the port then adapted the facilities of the south jetty to offer a better service in terms of freight and passenger transport. But to be considered a border, the port has already installed passenger control posts and another that will be in charge of quality control of products from non-Schengen countries.

The implementation of this line will significantly boost the port’s traffic. But before its launch, the port will have to complete the work on the second ramp dedicated to the loading of trailers onto the ferries. The line with Casablanca will especially stimulate container traffic, especially since agri-food products will be the main ones transported on the line. According to a study carried out by the port of Huelva three years ago, the volume of traffic with Morocco would be close to 5,000 TEUs. The project would also support the Tangier-Algeciras line and thus help decongest traffic in the Strait of Gibraltar.

The port of Casablanca is the second largest port in the Maghreb after that of Tangier. With a capacity to accommodate more than 35 boats of different sizes, it has an estimated traffic of 25 million tons per year, well below that of the port of Huelva, according to figures consulted by Huelva Información.

Category: Spain

Keywords:

Spain Casablanca Port Maritime link