Umbral

Linking Europe with Africa from the Strait of Gibraltar has been discussed for decades. However, in recent years we have seen how the Governments of the countries involved have been adding steps to this project. Spain and Morocco work has accelerated in recent months to make a railway tunnel a reality that would pass under the Strait and that would connect Punta Paloma (Tarifa) with Cape Malabata (near Tangier). The infrastructure (if it is built) would easily become a historic engineering work, allowing people to cross from one continent to another in just half an hour. What are we talking about?. The project contemplates a strictly railway tunnel, without a viaduct or vehicle lanes (something it originally discussed doing), with a total length of about 42 kilometers between stations, of which 27.7 are submerged. The deepest point it would reach 475 meters below sea level and would cross what is known as the Camarinal Threshold, the shallowest area of ​​the Strait and, curiously, much more complex from a geological point of view. What would it be like inside?. According to data collected by the Spanish public company SECEGSA, the design proposes two independent single-track tubes, each with an inner diameter of 7.90 metersand a 6-meter central service gallery for maintenance and emergency tasks. This gallery would connect with the main tubes through transversal passages every 340 meters. At the lowest point of the layout there would be a safe parking area with intervention areas and a smoke extraction system. High-speed trains for passengers and shuttle convoys for goods and vehicles would run through the tunnel. Who is in charge. The project is moving forward in two ways. On the Spanish side, the work is coordinated by SECEGSA, a public company created in the eighties precisely to promote this connection. On the Moroccan side, the Government has decided to concentrate all its efforts on the channel with Madridruling out other parallel paths. The most recent and relevant agreement It was signed on December 4, 2025 in La Moncloa between the Minister of Transport of Spain, Óscar Puente, and his counterpart in Morocco, Karim Zidane. It contains a memorandum between the Spanish National Geographic Institute and the National Center for Scientific and Technical Research of Morocco (CNRST) to jointly study the seismicity and geodynamics of the Strait for three years. Financing. In March of this year, the Spanish Government approved an additional transfer of 1.73 million euros to finance technical studies, according to they count from La Razón. Added to this item is a marine research campaign commissioned by the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) with a budget of 553,187 euros, published in the Official State Gazette. This campaign, lasting about 15 days and scheduled for the first half of 2026, includes high-resolution bathymetry, sampling of sediments and rocks from the seabed, and laboratory analysis. Three CSIC institutes participate (Marine, Geological and Mining Sciences, and Oceanography), the Navy Hydrographic Institute and the United States Geological Survey. Obstacles. The key is in the Camarinal Threshold. The Spanish subsidiary of the German manufacturer Herrenknecht, specialized in tunnel boring machines, carried out a feasibility study that concluded that the work is technically possible with current engineering, although he warned of enormous logistical and economic challenges. The subsoil of that area is made up of materials from the Flysch Complex, with layers of sandstone and clay of turbidite origin, covered by more recent sediments. This geological variability, added to the fact that the Strait is located on the Azores-Gibraltar-Tunisia fracture, the same one that caused the devastating Lisbon earthquake of 1755makes excavation a particularly complex challenge. On the other hand, it should be noted that the Strait is not an easy scenario. More than 100,000 ships pass through its waters a year and the study area is located within a Special Conservation Area with a protection plan for orcas. More than 1,900 species of marine flora and fauna have been recorded, which requires obtaining certain environmental permits before doing anything. How much will it cost. Although there are no concrete figures on how much the project would cost, Morocco World News situates the estimated cost alone for the Spanish part is above 8.5 billion euros, while other media such as El Diario elevate the total budget above 15,000 million, to be distributed between Spain, Morocco and the European Union. In any case, it will be one of the most expensive infrastructures ever built in the region. When will it be ready. Here it is advisable to lower expectations. And the deadlines that are managed They place the possible inauguration between 2035 and 2040always in the best of scenarios, but very possibly set more in the 2040s than before (that is, if the work is ever executed). If the seismic and geotechnical studies end up being favorable, a reconnaissance gallery could be put out to tender in 2027, requiring several years to complete to obtain detailed information on the terrain and the viability of the project. Why it matters beyond engineering. Connecting Africa with Europe by rail would encourage trade in very profitable ways, integrating the railway networks of the Maghreb with the European system and making the peninsular south take on a completely different color as a logistical node. Of course, it also raises political debates, especially regarding immigration management. Be that as it may, we will still have to wait to find out if the project finally materializes. Cover image | SECEGSA and Google Earth In Xataka | Amazon wants to save its ‘cloud’ from the mud: the plan to shield Zaragoza against large floods