Madrid to Casablanca in five hours and change, without setting foot in an airport. This is the pitch behind renewed efforts to build a rail link between southern Europe and northern Africa — all in time for the 2030 FIFA World Cup.
A proposed undersea tunnel between Morocco and Spain will be the first to connect the two continents. Different versions of the idea have been floated for decades, but the latest proposal is gaining momentum after Moroccan authorities said this month they would begin formal studies on the feasibility of the project.
The 17-mile underwater tunnel would bore under the Strait of Gibraltar, connecting the cities of Punta Paloma, Spain, and Malabata, Morocco. Part of the proposal calls for connecting the link to the major rail networks in these countries so that passengers can continue their journeys on both continents.
Morocco opened a 200 mph high-speed rail network in 2018, which is the first of its kind in Africa.
Getty Images
“We are moving forward with studies for this important project for our countries and for Europe-Africa relations,” said Raquel Sánchez, Spain’s Minister of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, during a press conference with her counterpart in Morocco before a year.
Since then, both countries have been involved in high-level talks to revive the project, with government officials holding multiple meetings and Spain already having funds to study the logistics of its end.
These logistics are important. The project would involve the construction of two 17-mile single-track underwater tunnels that would reach up to 1,550 feet below sea level. The Strait of Gibraltar, which also lies on a major seismic fault, reaches nearly 3,000 feet at its deepest point.
If realized, the rail link will facilitate the movement of up to 12.8 million passengers and another 13 million tons of cargo per year, according to forecasts by the Spanish Society for Fixed Communication Studies across the Strait of Gibraltar (SECEGSA).
![Tunnel Spain Morocco](https://d.newsweek.com/en/full/2399070/tunnel-spain-morocco.jpg?w=1200&f=bc0a0a84a43345ff1cb13680b7bb3c5f)
![Tunnel Spain Morocco](https://d.newsweek.com/en/full/2399070/tunnel-spain-morocco.jpg?w=1200&f=bc0a0a84a43345ff1cb13680b7bb3c5f)
SECEGSA
“Therefore, we are starting a new stage in the restart of the Fixed Link Project through the Strait of Gibraltar, which we started in 1981 with our two companies, Secegsa and SNED,” said Sánchez, Spain’s transport minister.
The project has taken on a renewed sense of urgency after Portugal, Spain and Morocco won their joint bid for the 2030 FIFA World Cup last October. The Spanish government recently committed more than $1.6 million to research related to the project, marking the largest investment in its development since 1981.
There are no official cost estimates for the tunnel, but some estimates put it north of $6 billion.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in search of common ground.