The Fixed Link Project has been in the pipeline for decades. (Image: Getty)
An ambitious £6bn that would link Africa to is gaining momentum.
The incredible plan of connecting and under the waters of the Strait of has been a dream for more than a century.
But now the dream could soon become a reality, with the Spanish Government having rented our marine bottom seismometers for more than £400,000 to analyse the area’s geology.
The devices will be supervised by the Royal Institute and Observatory of the Navy in San Fernando for six months, allowing studies to construct the underwater tunnel.
The idea of connecting the 14 kilometres separating Europe from Africa dates back to 1869, but it wasn’t until 1980 that Spain and Morocco signed a formal agreement to study the feasibility of a fixed link.
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The proposed tunnel would create a link between southern Spain and Morocco. (Image: Google Earth)
Since then, multiple options have been proposed, from a bridge to a railway tunnel, before an underwater tunnel was finally settled.
The Fixed Link Project would see Punta Paloma in southern Spain linked to Malabata in northwest Morocco through an underwater tunnel up to 475 metres below sea level.
The tunnel, which would be 28 kilometres long and capable of connecting both shores in less than 30 minutes, aims for completion by 2030.
It will provide vital transport for fans attending the which will be hosted by Spain, Portugal, and Morocco.
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The Strait of Gibraltar separates Europe from Africa. (Image: Getty)
The route would serve as an undersea subway for a travelling between the two continents below the Strait of .
Committing himself to the proposed tunnel, the current Spanish Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, recently visited Morocco to reactivate the Spanish-Moroccan joint committee responsible for preliminary studies.
It is hoped that the tunnel will symbolically link the two shores of the Mediterranean and provide economic and social development for Andalusia and northern Morocco.
However, the Strait’s geological complexities and the project’s high cost have been recurring barriers.