Spain Invests €1.78 Billion to Boost Algeciras Port, Competing with Tanger Med

Inspired by the Tanger Med model, Spain has unlocked a significant public fund of 1 billion and 775 million euros to consolidate the Port of Algeciras. "These investments are necessary in order to provide support on both sides. Tanger Med is making very large investments. That’s why we have to do the same," said Geraldo Landaluce, President of the Port Authority of the Bay of Algeciras, on the sidelines of the Round Table organized on March 6 by Tanger Med Authority, entitled "the maritime connection between the port of Tanger Med and the Port of Algeciras: a model for the integration of regional logistics chains".

For the Spanish official, the Port of Algeciras "must follow the Tanger Med model, whether in terms of infrastructure or ship capacity". Ödön Pàlla Sagüés, economic and commercial advisor of Spain in Rabat, agrees. "The value chains between Europe and Morocco, and between Morocco and Spain, do not occur without taking into account the existence of the ports of Algeciras and Tanger Med. If these two ports did not exist, these exchanges and this degree of integration would not exist either, at least not with the intensity we know today," he commented, before congratulating the Moroccan port.

"Algeciras has always been the first port of the Strait, but recently, it is now Tanger Med that occupies this place. Bravo for Tanger Med!" he observed, stressing that the Moroccan port owes its success to the realization of King Mohammed VI’s vision. "There are economic zones around Tanger Med; there is a whole network of railways, networks everywhere and a huge concentration of industrial products, particularly in the north of the country. Morocco has introduced this model. The Spaniards must now copy the Moroccans," Pàlla Sagüés estimated.

Furthermore, Morocco and Spain’s organization of the 2030 World Cup alongside Portugal was brought up in the interview with Geraldo Landaluce. "We are on a good footing. The hope is there, especially since there will be a very large flow of people and vehicles. We are proud; we believe that we will do a good job together," he rejoiced.