Spain and Morocco Advance Plans for 38.5 km Undersea Tunnel

The undersea tunnel to connect Spain to Morocco is 38.5 kilometers long, of which 27.7 kilometers are underwater. This underground passage should connect Punta Paloma, near Tarifa, to Tangier in Morocco. This route "will promote the development of transport networks between Spain and Morocco and create an unprecedented space of cooperation between the European Union and the Maghreb," the Spanish Society for Studies on Fixed Communications through the Strait of Gibraltar (SECEGSA) had assured. According to the Spanish authorities, the tunnel will allow to connect Madrid and Casablanca in five and a half hours, which is faster than the current 12-hour journey by car and ferry. It could also allow passengers to cover the approximately 39 km route very quickly.

This 39 km journey would only see passengers at ground level for a little over 3.22 km, or eight percent of the journey. The rest of the trip would allow passengers to travel about 27.36 km in an underwater tunnel and 10 km in a tunnel only. According to the Spanish public company SECEGSA, which is leading this mega-project, the tunnel would reduce the travel time between Madrid and Casablanca to only five and a half hours, which is comparable to the current duration of a two-hour flight or a 12-hour and approximately 1,000 km car or ferry journey.

"If this plan were realized,