Spain-Morocco Tunnel Project Stalls for 43 Years Despite Millions Invested

Created on February 26, 1981, Secegsa was tasked with achieving the objectives of the bilateral agreement signed in 1979 between Spain and Morocco for the construction of a 42 km submarine tunnel in the strait. But for four decades, the tunnel work has not started. Last February, during the High-Level Meeting, the two countries decided to reactivate the project, recalls La Información.

But Secegsa is seen as a budget-consuming institution that does not produce results. Between 2016 and 2021, it received state subsidies worth 50,000 euros per year. In 2022, the government doubled the amount of this subsidy, increasing it to 100,000 euros, to which are added the 750,000 euros intended to update the studies of the tunnel under the strait, a project now financed with European funds.

The Spanish public company hopes to complete this update of the studies by the end of the year. In total, it will have consumed 1.5 million euros for this task, as indicated in the general state budgets. This final step is "necessary to start the work of the fixed Europe-Africa link in the Strait of Gibraltar," it is explained.

To achieve its objectives, Secegsa has also called on the services of other administrations to whom it has paid nearly 900,000 euros over the past six years. It has also signed agreements with its Moroccan counterpart, the National Company for Studies of the Strait of Gibraltar (SNED). Despite all these actions and expenses, the project is struggling to enter its active phase.