Morocco, Spain, and Portugal will jointly host the 2030 FIFA World Cup. And that year was presented as a realistic deadline for the construction of the tunnel that would connect Europe and Africa.
The idea of building a tunnel between Spain and Morocco first appeared in 1979, and these days it has been revived and is being intensively discussed in the two neighboring countries, which are separated by the sea and the Strait of Gibraltar. Here’s what’s known so far about the ambitious Europe-Africa train plan.
Currently, the flight between the Spanish metropolis of Madrid and the Moroccan city of Tangier takes about an hour and a half. If someone were to make the same journey by car, it would take them about nine hours and at some point they would have to board a ferry.
The new tunnel would open up the possibility of a direct train connection from Madrid to Casablanca, the whole journey would take about five and a half hours and have several stops on the route. It would pass under Gibraltar and lead to Tangier, and from there to other Moroccan cities.
A few years ago, the authorities of both countries launched an analysis of old plans from 1979 and a research of the Strait of Gibraltar area to determine how feasible and sustainable the project is today.
Several meetings were held where the intention to implement the plan was expressed, and the preferred deadline was “as soon as possible”, writes Euronews.
More serious negotiations began in February of last year and have continued until today. The goal, as stated, is “the development of good relations between the two countries, and the development of better infrastructure and transport connections.”
Not much is known about the details of the plan itself and the new tunnel. If the plan comes true, the tunnel will be 27.5 kilometers long. The cost is not yet known, but it is known that the project is worth more than a billion euros. So far, the Spaniards have spent 2.3 million euros on research alone.
The route of the tunnel, according to the Railtech website, would run from Punta Paloma in Tarifa to Punta Malabat in the Gulf of Tangier. It would be dug to a maximum depth of 300 meters and have a slope of no more than three percent.
It is estimated that the construction would take about five years – just enough for the tunnel to be finished by the time of the football championship. If the plan comes true, the initiators are convinced, that it will be a strategic project for Spain, and Morocco, but also the whole of Europe and Africa.
