Morocco-Spain Tunnel: the project attacked in court

It is a battle of money and influence that is being played out behind the scenes, with the Morocco-Spain tunnel as the backdrop. The Federation of Spanish Engineering Business Associations (CÍES) has decided to take the matter to court. On Wednesday, January 7, it filed an administrative litigation appeal against the Spanish Studies Society (Secegsa), an entity under the Ministry of Transport.

The object of the anger? A contract of nearly one million euros (961,939 €) awarded directly, without a call for tenders, to Ineco, another public entity. This contract aims to update the preliminary project of the railway tunnel that is to connect Tangier to Punta Paloma.

"Unfair competition" and abuse of dominant position

For the Spanish private sector, the cup is full. Engineers accuse the state of locking the market by systematically favoring its own subsidiary, Ineco, under the pretext of urgency or security, justifications deemed unfounded by the plaintiffs, according to El Economista.

The objective of CÍES is clear: to obtain the immediate suspension of the contract and force Secegsa to launch an open tender. "There are in Spain specialists in underground works with great international recognition," argues the organization, which denounces a form of unfair competition financed by the European Next Generation funds. They also point out that Ineco, once it has the contract, often ends up subcontracting the tasks... to the private sector.

An 8.5 billion euro project at stake

This legal guerrilla warfare could slow down the technical studies of this titanic project, the cost of which is estimated at at least 8.5 billion euros. The contested work concerns crucial stages: the study of the reconnaissance gallery and the adaptation of the preliminary project.

Private engineers do not intend to stop there. After seizing the Madrid court, they are preparing a complaint to the European Commission to denounce these practices as potential illegal state aid. The tunnel under the strait, an old dream of the two shores, is now held hostage by a corporate power struggle in Madrid.