The governments of Morocco and Spain are currently in talks about constructing an underwater tunnel to connect the two countries, reports Craig Whitlock of Washington Post Foreign Service...

For the last 25 years, Spain and Morocco have been in discussions about the potential for a transportation link to connect the two countries via the Straits of Gibraltar.  After years of feasibility studies, this grand vision was given new life last autumn when the two governments hired a Swiss engineering firm to draw up blueprints for an underwater rail route.

However, significant obstacles remain in particular geological and cost issues.  A final decision on whether to go ahead with the project is still some years off, but optimistic engineers say the project could be finished by 2025.

If built, the tunnel would be one of the world’s most ambitious civil engineering projects, alongside the Panama Canal and the Channel Tunnel between Britain and France.

Two continents reunited

On a clear day, you can see Spain from Morocco’s northern port of Tangier, just nine miles away across the waters of the Straits of Gibraltar.  Europe and Africa split apart over 5 million years ago.  Now after decades of research and planning, the two continents could be on the verge of being reunited.

Like the Channel Tunnel, the Gibraltar project would consist of twin tracks in parallel tunnels, with a service tunnel in between.  Morocco’s minister of transportation, Karim Ghellab has a vision of commuters boarding a high-speed train in Seville at 8 a.m. and arriving at work in Tangier by 9:30.  90 minutes later, travellers could be in Casablanca and then the bazaars of Marrakech just over an hour after that.  Today, such a trip by ferry and rail would take at least three times as long.  “It will completely change our world,” Ghellab said.

Government officials in both countries believe the tunnel would bring economic benefits on both sides of the Mediterranean.  But the project is also motivated by some more "philosophical" reasons - the prospect of uniting two continents that are culturally and socially distant despite their geographic proximity.

“We’ve already done a tremendous amount of work to make this dream come true, to go from an idea, a concept that is just philosophical, into something we can transform into reality,” said Ghellab.

Still many obstacles to overcome

The engineers behind the project have said that the challenges involved would far exceed those encountered in constructing the “Chunnel”.  The first problem is the depth of the water which is nearly 3,000 feet at the shortest route across the strait, compared to just 200 feet in the English Channel.  To get round this, engineers have re-routed the project, from Cape Malabata in Morocco to Punta Paloma in Spain.  Whilst this would mean the tunnel would be twice as long, the water would be much shallower, albeit still very deep at 985 feet below sea level.

A second problem is geological in nature.  The seabed around Gibraltar is much more permeable than the hard-chalk rock under the English channel.  To overcome this, engineers would have to take the tunnel down by another 300 feet or so.  However, as Andrea Panciera, chief project engineer with Lombardi engineering the Swiss firm that is designing the Gibraltar link, pointed out, at this depth, the water pressure would cause the tunnel to leak heavily, regardless of the quality of construction.

Then there's cost implications to consider.  Private investors who stumped up the bulk of the Channel Tunnel's $20 billion price tag have suffered heavy losses and the operator, Eurotunnel, has teetered on the brink of bankruptcy for years.  Private analysts have estimated the costs at between $6.5 billion to $13 billion.  The two nations have said that they are a long way from agreeing finance but that they hope to rely heavily on the European Union and the private sector.

Officials in Spain and Morocco have said their governments are committed to the tunnels but have also acknowledged that engineering and cost obstacles are currently proving challenging.  “It’s not easy to predict a date yet, but it is a project that will happen.” said Ghellab.

Increasing flows of people between Spain and Morocco

The number of Moroccan immigrants to Spain has rocketed in recent years.  According to official statistics, more than 500,000 live there legally, while many more are undocumented.

And in the opposite direction, hordes of Europeans are discovering the charms of Morocco.  The north African nation hopes to attract 10 million tourists by 2010, up from the record 6 million who visited in 2005.

SOURCE: www.gibraltarnewsonline.com