According to a new report, the Moroccan National Company for Strait Studies (SNED), announced that it’s analyzing the logistics for building a tunnel from the south coast of Spain to Morocco.
The tunnel would run 17 miles (28km) from Spain’s Punta Paloma to Malabata in Northern Morocco. It would travel below 1,500ft (457m) in the Strait of Gibraltar.
The project, estimated to cost upwards of €8 billion, would connect the two continents via rail and road. Over 12 million passengers and 13 million tons of cargo could flow between the two continents in less than an hour.
History of the Tunnel Idea
Since 1930, the plan for building a tunnel under the Straits of Gibraltar has stayed in many people’s heads. The strait is merely 8 miles (13km) wide.
The main hurdle was the impenetrable rock that lay beneath the surface. To add to the challenge, the active Azores–Gibraltar fault runs near the channel which is thousands of feet deep at its narrowest point.
Still, with the 2030 Olympics fast approaching, authorities and planners in both countries are looking at what it will take to make this dream a reality.
What it Would Mean for Surfers
Spain, Morocco, and Portugal are wave-rich destinations that attract millions of foreign surfers annually. A project on this scale would turn the trans-continental region into a surfer’s golden triangle.
With typical travel times between Spain, Portugal, and Spain nearing 12 hours, many people choose to stick to one destination.
With a tunnel, surfers could theoretically surf waves in all three countries on the same day. In a week, you could drive to the points of Taghazout, beaches of Peniche, or the famed river mouths of the Basque country. For surfers, this could be the most exciting engineering project since the wave pool.