Madrid, Rabat Start New Stage in Revival of Strait of Gibraltar Fixed Link Project (Spanish Minister)

On Apr 11, 2023

Madrid – Spain and Morocco have started a new stage in the revival of the project of fixed link of the Strait of Gibraltar, said the Spanish Minister of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, Raquel Sanchez.

“We are entering a new stage in the revival of the fixed link project through the Strait of Gibraltar, which we began in 1981 with our two companies, Secegsa and the Moroccan National Society of Studies of the Strait of Gibraltar (SNED),” said Raquel Sanchez, who co-chaired the 43rd meeting of the Spanish-Moroccan Joint Committee of fixed link project of the Strait of Gibraltar on Monday with Minister of Equipment and Water, Nizar Baraka.

The Spanish minister was quoted in a statement released on Tuesday by his department as saying, “The fact that we are advancing the studies of a project of the greatest geostrategic importance for our countries and for relations between Europe and Africa after fourteen years, since October 2009 in Tangier, has an important political significance.”

Following a high-level meeting between Spain and Morocco in Rabat on February 1 and 2, during which “both countries reaffirmed their agreement to promote the studies of the fixed link project,” according to the Spanish Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, the joint committee meetings were called.

In this way, the committee meeting approved of the collaborative work done since 2009 by the Moroccan counterpart of SNED and the Spanish company Secegsa, which is in charge of the studies.

The same source emphasized that the joint committee’s recommendations state that “both parties encourage the visibility of the project and agreed to address the development of a comprehensive strategy and work plan for the next three years, which could include, among other things, the analysis of the feasibility of the construction of a reconnaissance gallery to identify the geomechanical characteristics.”

According to the ministry, the meeting also takes place at a time when the Secegsa has been reactivated after a period without a large budgetary commitment and studies have been ordered to determine whether an intercontinental fixed link for energy and communications is feasible.

In this regard, the same source reminded that the Plan for Recovery, Transformation, and Resilience (PRTR), adopted by the Spanish government, includes 2.3 million euros in European funds to update the project-related studies.