Spain and Morocco Push for Underwater Rail Tunnel Before 2030 World Cup

After several years of studies, will the railway tunnel under the strait be a reality before the 2030 World Cup, jointly organized by Morocco, Spain and Portugal? In any case, the authorities of Morocco and Spain, the two countries that this submarine tunnel will connect, are determined to move the lines to achieve this goal.

The construction of this tunnel should take five years and could therefore be delivered in time for the 2030 World Cup. But in reality, the active phase of this project is not about to start, comments Infobae. Since last March, when the Spanish Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, discussed the matter with his Moroccan counterpart in Rabat, no concrete action has been taken. The two parties have agreed to hold a meeting of the Hispano-Moroccan Joint Committee soon to make decisions regarding this project. The last meeting of this Committee was in April 2023 and was held by videoconference.

The project should consist of the construction of two single-track railway tunnels with a circular cross-section of 7.90 meters in diameter, separated by a service/safety gallery of 6 meters in diameter, and transverse galleries of 6 meters in diameter each every 340 meters. In total, the Morocco-Spain tunnel will have a total length of 38.5 kilometers, of which 27.7 km will be underwater. It will boost trade relations between Spain and Morocco, but also between Europe and Africa.