Spain and Morocco Advance Plans for Underwater Tunnel Across Gibraltar Strait

SECEGSA wishes to obtain these four seabed seismometers (OBS) to conduct a seismotectonic research campaign in the Strait of Gibraltar over a period of six months, from the date of delivery of these devices to the Royal Institute and the Observatory of the Navy of San Fernando (Cadiz). The amount of the call for tenders is 488,000 euros including tax, reports El Diario.

Spain and Morocco signed an agreement in 1980 for the Europe-Africa fixed link project. Two companies have been created to study the feasibility of the project: SECEGSA, on the Spanish side, and the National Society for Studies of the Strait of Gibraltar (SNED), on the Moroccan side. Since then, several studies have been carried out to "understand the difficulties of the site from a geological, oceanographic, seismic and meteorological point of view".

According to the call for tenders launched, three seismometers had been deployed in 2014, in collaboration with Spanish navy ships. After several studies, the option of a tunnel, rather than a bridge, has finally been chosen. The tunnel, 38.5 kilometers long, including 27.7 kilometers underwater, should connect Punta Paloma, near Tarifa, to Tangier.

This tunnel is a "strategic project" for the two countries which are working for its realization before the 2030 World Cup which they are jointly organizing with Portugal. The tunnel under the strait linking Morocco and Spain, and therefore Africa and Europe, "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", assures SECEGSA.