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Marrakech – The Spanish government has officially commissioned public engineering firm Ineco to design the reconnaissance gallery for the ambitious Morocco-Spain tunnel project, in what marks a concrete step toward the construction phase of the decades-old initiative.
According to Spanish news outlet Vozpópuli, the formal commission was issued on November 3 by SECEGSA (Spanish Company for Studies on Fixed Communication across the Gibraltar Strait), which reports to the Ministry of Transport led by Óscar Puente.
The contract, worth €961,939 and financed through European Recovery Plan funds, establishes a detailed technical roadmap with a delivery deadline of August 2026.
This development comes after German company Herrenknecht, the world leader in tunnel boring machines, confirmed the project’s technical feasibility in a study delivered to the Spanish government in June. The report concluded that despite extreme complexity, current technology is capable of executing the ambitious infrastructure project.
The commission requires Ineco to complete several critical studies by August 2026. These include the preliminary design of the reconnaissance gallery, revision of previous studies, and comprehensive updating of routing, geology, geotechnical conditions, security systems, terminals, and associated installations.
The reconnaissance gallery represents the technical foundation of this phase, serving as an exploratory tunnel that would definitively validate the feasibility of the railway connection.
The exploratory tunnel will link Spain’s Punta Paloma to Punta Malabata in Morocco, roughly 10 kilometers east of central Tangier. It will validate critical geological conditions of the Strait, particularly in the paleochannel zones where the greatest risks are located.
The gallery will not merely serve as an advanced probe but could later be functionally integrated into the future link as a security gallery, maintenance route, or support for infrastructure like fiber optics and electrical networks.
Tectonic setting heightens seismic vulnerability
The project encompasses a 65-kilometer railway connection between Europe and Africa, with nearly 40 kilometers crossing Spanish territory. The Spanish terminal would be located near Vejer de la Frontera, with integration into the General Interest Railway Network through a new connection with the Cádiz-Sevilla line.
The Gibraltar Strait presents extraordinary geological challenges as it sits at the junction of the African and Eurasian tectonic plates, making it a geologically unstable region.
This seismic activity poses particular risks for any large-scale infrastructure, as evidenced by recent earthquakes, including the 2016 Alboran Sea earthquake and the 2004 Al Hoceima earthquake.
The commission specifically requires Ineco to conduct renewed analysis of seismicity and terrain conditions, acknowledging that the region remains exposed to earthquakes capable of damaging large-scale structures.
Technical specifications reveal the tunnel’s complexity: depths reaching up to 475 meters below sea level, with the underwater section spanning 28 kilometers of the total 65-kilometer route.
The final design would follow a twin-tube approach, requiring excavation through extremely difficult geological conditions beneath the Camarinal Threshold.
Engineers must also contend with powerful marine currents generated by the meeting of Atlantic and Mediterranean waters, which frequently change direction and velocity.
The most challenging aspect involves tunneling beneath the Camarinal Threshold, an area with extremely difficult geological conditions. Herrenknecht’s findings indicate that the Spanish-Moroccan project can be developed within current technical and engineering margins, with notable improvements compared to assessments from the beginning of the century.
The commission also mandates Ineco to completely update the engineering of the Spanish route, including the definitive location of the northern terminal.
Geological chapters must be entirely redone, with updated cartographies, marine and terrestrial profiles, and revised geotechnical properties assigned in 2007. This includes renewed analysis of seismicity and terrain conditions in both terrestrial and marine zones.
The commission incorporates high-level risk analysis covering physical, regulatory, financial, and operational aspects, along with redesigned security and ventilation systems conforming to current European standards.
Engineers must specifically update criteria from the Tunnel Security Technical Specifications for Interoperability (ETI) and conduct additional fire simulation testing to properly dimension safety systems.
Insiders expect completion between 2035 and 2040
Recent collaborative efforts have strengthened the project’s foundations. A delegation from SECEGSA and its Moroccan counterpart, Société Nationale d’Études du Détroit (SNED), visited Norway to examine the Rogfast project, currently the world’s longest and deepest tunnel under construction.
Simultaneously, seismicity and seabed studies are being conducted with assistance from the United States Geological Survey.
The Spanish Ministry of Transport has also commissioned public consulting firm Ineco to define a profitability model for the future corridor. This study explores concession formulas similar to those used for the Eurotunnel or the Figueras-Perpignan high-speed line, while analyzing potential passenger and freight demand.
The workload requires approximately 15,000 technical hours and a team comprising senior graduates, mid-level technicians, drafters, and support personnel. The reconnaissance gallery design must be completed by June 30, 2026, with the complete preliminary project update finalized by the same date.
Internal projections place the first material advances around 2030, coinciding with the World Cup that Spain and Morocco will jointly host. However, sources close to the project indicate that 2035-2040 would be a more realistic timeframe for completion, given technical difficulties and the magnitude of required investment.
The total budget is estimated to exceed €8.5 billion for the Spanish portion alone, including the reconnaissance gallery, definitive railway tunnels, terminal, installations, and contingencies. The total project cost could reach between €15 billion and €30 billion according to initial estimates. This would take approximately a decade to complete.
The tunnel project awakens after decades asleep
The tunnel project traces its origins to 19th-century engineering ambitions, with the concept nearly contemporary to the Channel Tunnel project that took 150 years from initial conception to completion in 1994.
King Hassan II championed the idea enthusiastically, presenting plans to US President Jimmy Carter at the White House on November 15, 1978. “We should envisage the construction of a tunnel under the Gibraltar Strait,” Hassan II announced, explaining he had already discussed the concept with Spanish leader Francisco Franco. Carter responded with interest, but the project remained dormant for decades.
The first official agreement between Spain and Morocco was signed in 1979. Since then, approximately fifty joint committees have been held between both governments.
Spain invested decades of public funding in the initiative, with allocations once reaching millions, though subsidies decreased during the past decade, with total grants in 2017 amounting to just €50,000.
The project gained new momentum in 2021 when it was included among initiatives eligible for European Recovery Fund financing, receiving allocations exceeding €2 million.
Since 2022, following Pedro Sánchez’s change of position regarding Western Sahara, Spanish and Moroccan authorities have committed to accelerating the project at an unprecedented pace. Both governments have reportedly committed to making a final decision in 2027 regarding the tender for the first exploratory tunnel.
Both governments consider the project “historic” for consolidating the Peninsula as a Euro-Mediterranean node and reinforcing railway, energy, and logistical interconnection between Europe and Africa.
The final tunnel design would accommodate railway transport for both passengers and freight, potentially reducing transit times between Tarifa and Tanger to just thirty minutes.
Additional revenue sources being considered include railway fees, logistics services, electrical interconnection, and fiber optic installation, reflecting the tunnel’s potential as a multi-purpose infrastructure corridor between continents.
