An insane new underwater tunnel could link the continents of Europe and Africa together by the 2030 World Cup.
The plans for the tunnel, which would run under the Gibraltar Strait, have been in the works for decades but there is hope progress on a mega project that has the potential to transform the lives of millions.
The plans propose that the 17-mile tunnel would sit at a depth of 475m between Malabata in Morocco and Punta Paloma in Spain.
The impact of the tunnel on journey times for vehicles is thought to be immense, reducing the time it takes to drive from Spain’s capital Madrid to Casablanca from 12 hours to just five-and-a-half.
The Telegraph reported that the Spanish Society for Fixed Communication Studies (SECEGSA) has claimed the tunnel could carry 12.8 million passengers per year and accommodate 13m tonnes of cargo over the same period.
Furthermore, hopes of the tunnel being approved have been raised by the World Cup in 2030, a tournament that will be shared between Spain, Morocco, and Portugal.
Earlier this year Nizar Baraka, the Moroccan minister of water and equipment met with Spain’s transport minister Oscar Puente to discuss the plans which have been around in one form or another since the 1930s.
At the time the original plans were ditched because of the hard rock seabed that would make it extremely difficult to bore through, too tough for the technology of the time. The project was briefly revived in the late 1970s, but a committee to assess its feasibility didn’t move further.
Fast forward to February 2023 and representatives from Spain and Morocco met to discuss the matter. At the time the Minister of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda Raquel Sánchez said: “We are going to give a boost to the studies of the Fixed Link Project of the Strait of Gibraltar that was started by both countries 40 years ago. A strategic project for Spain and Morocco and also for Europe and Africa.”
PM of Morocco Aziz Akhannouch, who attended a summit between the two countries, added: “[The summit] opens the perspectives of projects that are so many levers to build the future, among them the fixed link project between the two countries, which will probably cause a real revolution on several levels.”
