UK and Morocco consider Gibraltar-Tangier tunnel 

Britain and Morocco are considering plans to revive a decades-old project for a tunnel connecting Europe to Africa by linking the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar to the northern Moroccan city of Tangier.

The project has reportedly resurfaced post-Brexit as Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s cabinet looks for new trade opportunities and relations. “London has seriously embarked on studying the project that will link Europe to Africa,” the Arab Weekly reported on Saturday.

In an interview with Espanol last year, the former British Ambassador in Rabat, Thomas Riley, said that there were many opportunities to develop ties between Morocco and Gibraltar.

The 30 kilometre tunnel could be similar to the Eurotunnel which connects Britain to France. If the plan goes ahead, it would replace a Spain-Morocco tunnel project which was talked about for almost 40 years, although the first proposal was said to have been put forward as far back as the late 1800s. However, the talks between the Spanish and Moroccans ended two years ago due to floods and frequent earthquakes in the area, and the project being deemed no longer viable.

Ties between London and Rabat have grown in recent years with the first strategic dialogue between the two countries taking place two years ago. In November, senior military officials from both countries discussed strengthening defence ties following meetings on the security situation in the Mediterranean and the Sahel regions.

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