Spain-Morocco Undersea Tunnel Project Scrapped, Replaced with Fiber Optic Link

The Spanish Minister of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, Raquel Sánchez, stated during the Morocco-Spain summit held on February 1 and 2 in Rabat, that the two countries were going to "accelerate the studies of the fixed link project of the Strait of Gibraltar that was launched forty years ago. A strategic project for Spain and Morocco, but also for Europe and Africa."

After this announcement, we expected the two countries to proceed with the launch of the construction work on the tunnel. But this is not the case. "For now, there is a mutual commitment to promote fiber optic and telecommunications-focused tunnel studies," indicate sources from the Spanish Ministry of Transport, who stress that no reflection is underway for the construction of a railway tunnel between the two countries.

For this new tunnel project that will serve for fiber optics and telecommunications, the two countries have not yet chosen an implementation plan. The same sources from the Spanish Ministry of Transport assure that the joint Morocco-Spain committee will probably meet this month to establish a work schedule in order to make rapid progress in the implementation of the project.

However, the two countries have shown renewed interest in recent months in resuming the project in its initial version. In November, the Moroccan government council appointed AbdelKébir Zahoud, director general of the National Company for the Study of the Strait of Gibraltar, under the Ministry of Equipment and Water. For its part, Spain has planned a line of 750,000 euros in its 2023 budget to launch new feasibility studies for the project.