Strait Tunnel: Why connect Cadiz with Morocco when it could be linked with Ceuta?

A few days ago, the launch of an ambitious project that has been talked about for decades in Spain was announced.

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Last Saturday, El Faro de Ceuta reported that the Spain-Morocco tunnel has entered the design phase, with fieldwork planned for 2030. Construction of the tunnel is expected to take place between 2035 and 2040, at a cost of 8.5 billion euros for Spain. Essentially, the idea behind this tunnel is to connect the province of Cádiz with the northern coast of Morocco, in order to facilitate rail and road traffic between the two countries.

In 2022, the pro-government media outlet La Sexta reported that the plan would be to connect Tarifa with Tangier, covering a distance of 42 kilometers. According to a news report published by Vozpópuli a few days ago, the current project aims to connect Punta Paloma (Tarifa, Spain) with Punta Malabata (Tangier, Morocco). The distance between the two coasts is 27 kilometers. This proposal seems somewhat strange, at least from a Spanish perspective, since connecting the coast of Cádiz with Ceuta would require a tunnel of only 17 kilometers.

Obviously, if Spain has any special interest in North Africa, it is to improve its communications with its strongholds on the southern coast of the Strait of Gibraltar, especially with the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla. Improving these communications is not only of great importance from a transport and economic standpoint: it is a fundamental step in the defense of these territories, which Morocco has coveted for many years.

Connecting Spain and Morocco with a tunnel could be very problematic in several aspects. It's important to remember that Spain is a member state of the European Union, so this tunnel would create a non-EU border, similar to those in Ceuta and Melilla. Would all vehicles and trains from Morocco simply be allowed to pass through? Obviously not. Spain cannot do that; it has an obligation to establish border controls, especially considering that Morocco is one of the main sources of illegal immigration to Spain.

Thus, this tunnel has obvious strategic importance for Morocco, as it would facilitate the movement of people and goods from the North African country into Europe and, furthermore, would effectively subordinate Ceuta and Melilla to Morocco, since they would depend on this communication route between the two countries to access the Iberian Peninsula. The paradox is that Spain is going to contribute an astronomical sum of money to promote a tunnel that primarily benefits Moroccan strategic interests, which have been clashing with Spain's interests, especially (but not exclusively) regarding illegal immigration.

To this we must add another strange decision: Three years ago, Pedro Sánchez's government removed Ceuta from the Schengen Area in its Strategic Plan. It has not been included since. The exclusion of Ceuta and Melilla from the Schengen Area was intended to facilitate traffic between these two Spanish cities and Morocco. However, Morocco has closed its customs borders with these Spanish cities, in an attempt to economically strangle them.

Under these conditions, building a tunnel between Spain and Morocco is like handing Ceuta and Melilla to the North African country on a silver platter, and is also a reward to the regime of Mohammed VI for suffocating both Spanish cities. Once again, the Sánchez government seems to be thinking more about Morocco's interests than Spain's. The pertinent question is: why?

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Photo: La Moncloa. Pedro Sánchez during his visit to Morocco on February 21, 2024.