Rabat – International coverage on a possible undersea highway project between Portugal and Morocco is making headlines.
OkDiario reported this week that the ambitious project, with a budget exceeding €800 million, has entered a concrete planning phase.
Land-based logistics infrastructure and maritime connections support the project which would link Morocco with high-capacity roads north of Tangier. In Portugal, the project will integrate with the Algarve network and the A2 motorway.
OkDiario quoted engineers involved in the project as stating that the infrastructure could change the “way we understand territory.”
The sources involved in the early phases of the project described the project as “modular,” reassuring that its phases will not disrupt regional traffic.
“The main design envisions a double-bore tunnel, with separate lanes for each direction and a technical emergency corridor,” OkDiario reported.
The total cost for the project will depend on different factors, including seismic risk and geology.
The report also outlined the phases of the project, including environmental studies, construction of access points, tunnel execution, systems installations, and testing.
The project comes as Morocco and Spain are also studying a tunnel across the Strait of Gibraltar.
OkDiario recalled that Spain’s Transport Minister Oscar Puente visited Morocco recently to discuss details of the project, expressing Spanish companies’ interest in participating in the development of the infrastructure.
Booth projects aim to connect Africa to Europe, an ambition marked by preparatory campaigns for the prestigious 2030 World Cup that Morocco, Spain, and Portugal are co-hosting.
Earlier this month, Spain and Morocco signed an MoU to conduct joint research on the seismicity and geodynamics of the Strait.
The planned tunnel would stretch approximately 65 kilometers in total. Around 40 kilometers would run under Spanish territory. The northern entrance would be located near Vejer de la Frontera.
In mid-March, Spain approved a new transfer of €1.73 million to finance technical studies for the infrastructure.