Morocco-Spain High-Speed Rail Link Faces Hurdles Ahead of 2030 World Cup

The idea of connecting the African and European continents dates back to the 1930s. The project was revived in the 1980s between Kings Juan Carlos and Hassan II, but it never reached the construction stage. With the organization of the World Cup, some dream of the implementation of a high-speed rail link between Casablanca and Madrid passing through this tunnel.

The solution of building a bridge between Morocco and Spain initially adopted had been abandoned in 1996 for safety reasons. Since then, several oceanographic campaigns and geological and technical studies have made it possible to define the geological specificity of the fixed link project Morocco-Europe.

According to the Spanish Society for a Fixed Communication through the Strait of Gibraltar (SECEGSA), recent advances suggest that the realization of the tunnel, connecting Casablanca to Madrid, is within reach. With an estimate of five years for completion, the project must start quickly to be ready before the kickoff of the World Cup. SECEG plans to build two tunnels between the two countries, about 28 km long and with a maximum depth of 300 meters, connecting Tangier (Cap Malabata) to Tarifa in Spain.

The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) took up this project in July 2013. The fixed Morocco-Spain link was at the time the only international project subject to regular UN monitoring. For the UN body, this platform perfectly meets the objectives of the Euro-Mediterranean transport policy. The fixed link project is "the opportunity to create an intercontinental hub par excellence, thanks to its position as the gateway to the Mediterranean," explained ECOSOC.