Tunnel to link Spain and Morocco agreed
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By Isambard Wilkinson Daily Telegraph 17 November 2003
Europe will be linked to Africa by tunnel within a decade under plans announced last week by Spain and Morocco.
After nearly two decades of faltering negotiations, the two countries agreed to start the work under the Strait of Gibraltar by 2008. The rail tunnel, based on the Channel Tunnel, will be nearly 25 miles long, of which 17 will be under the sea, and will be 1,300ft beneath sea level at its deepest point.
The Spanish mouth of the tunnel will be at Punta Palomas, about 27 miles west of Gibraltar, and the Moroccan end at Punta Malabata, near Tangier.
The two countries have pledged to spend an initial £18 million on researching the project over the next two years. A competing idea to span the strait with a bridge was rejected.
The full cost is not yet known, but both countries hope it will be financed by the European Union.
Spain and Morocco signed two agreements to create a link across the strait in the 1980s, but these were halted by disputes over fishing and illegal immigration.
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