Rabat – The Spanish government has announced their plan to reactivate the undersea railway project set to link Morocco and Spain through the Strait of Gibraltar.
The project was first conceptualized in a joint declaration dating back to 1979. Four decades later, the 38-kilometer-long tunnel from Tangier to Tarifa still remains an idea waiting to be executed.
Expected to open in 2030, the tunnel would extend for 27 kilometers undersea with a maximum depth of 475 meters.
According to the Spanish news outlet elDiario, the Spanish Society of Studies for Fixed Communication through the Strait of Gibraltar (Segecsa) is in charge of the project. In 2021, the state-owned company received European funds from the Spanish Recovery Plan to conduct new feasibility studies on the tunnel’s infrastructure.
This October, Spain’s draft budget for 2023 allocated €750,000 (MAD 8 million) to Segecsa. The Spanish daily reported that the funds are set to finance new preliminary studies that take into account recent advances in technology and the earlier feasibility studies conducted around 30 years ago.
The same source noted that the Spanish government is willing to take the “final” and “definitive” steps to implement the pending project, adding that it is set to introduce modifications to the initially planned route.
Quoting the Spanish government, elDiario said that “the technical and technological advances recorded in the last 15 years in the field of construction, management, operation and maintenance of underground and undersea works represent a spectacular leap.”
The recent diplomatic rapprochement between Rabat and Madrid is also expected to facilitate and accelerate the implementation of the project.
With Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez set to visit Morocco in November, the undersea railway tunnel is likely to be added to the meeting agenda with the hope of securing the smooth execution of the plan.
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