Football fever is certainly one of the main driving forces behind a new rail link that one might have thought totally utopian. A rail link between the African and European continents. The fact that the FIFA World Cup is to be held simultaneously in Spain, Portugal and Morocco in 2030 is accelerating the project for a high-speed rail link between Morocco and Spain via the Straits of Gibraltar.
The Spanish and then the Moroccan press have reported that the project, after decades on the drawing board, has suddenly taken shape. The future railway line would be built via a tunnel under the Mediterranean. It would be almost 28 km long, dug 100 metres under the sea, with a further 10 km on land. The initial project, 30 years ago, envisaged the construction of a double railway tunnel with an intermediate service gallery.
5.5 hours from Madrid to Casablanca
The route would run directly from Madrid to Casablanca in 5.5 hours, with two stops, one in Algeciras and the other in Casablanca. Tangier. The Spanish Society for the Study of Fixed Communications through the Straits of Gibraltar (Secegsa), which reports to the Spanish Ministry of Transport, is responsible for carrying out this project.
Secegsa claims that the feasibility of the project is guaranteed. It also argues that a five-year completion deadline. The Spanish government has officially confirmed an allocation of €2.3 million in European funds to the company. The two governments are now finalising the development plan and beginning to sound out the markets in search of financing. In particular, such a project should be able to benefit from financial assistance from the European Union. If the high-speed line is to start operating in time for the FIFA World Cup, work will have to begin in 2025.
