The project to build a tunnel linking Spain to Morocco via the Strait of Gibraltar, has entered its active phase with the launch Monday of studies. The infrastructure should serve for telecommunications and for the transport of passengers and goods between Europe and Africa.
The Spanish-Moroccan joint commission met on Monday to discuss the project and launch the studies. It consists of the construction of a tunnel of about 40 kilometers that will connect the two countries. At the high-level meeting held in February in Rabat, Spain and Morocco agreed to “accelerate the studies of the fixed link project of the Strait of Gibraltar, which was launched forty years ago. A strategic project for Spain and Morocco, but also for Europe and Africa.
The meeting on Monday validated the studies conducted since 2009 by the Spanish company in charge of studies (Secegsa), and its Moroccan counterpart, SNED, and agree on the development of a comprehensive strategy and a work plan over a period of three years. Initially, the tunnel should be used for the transport of passengers and goods. Later, the possibility of using it as a gas pipeline to transport gas was raised, recalls 20minutos.
The tunnel will extend 42 km, of which 27.8 km will be underwater and 11 km underground (38.67 km in total), between Paloma Point in Tarifa and Malabata Point in the Bay of Tangier, with a maximum depth of 300 meters. Despite the high initial cost of the project, the tunnel would eventually have a significant impact on trade relations between Europe and Africa, promoting better goods traffic, greater productivity of companies and the relocation and creation of businesses.
With reactivation, the tunnel could be completed by 2030-2040. It would consist of two single-track tunnels, each with a diameter of about 7.9 meters, and a service tunnel with a diameter of 6 meters. The three spaces would be connected by transverse walkways at regular 340-metre intervals, with 100 metres in the safety zone.
