Morocco and Spain have signed two groundbreaking cooperation agreements aimed at advancing the long-envisioned fixed link beneath the Strait of Gibraltar a tunnel that could, for the first time, connect Africa and Europe by land.

The deals were signed Thursday in Madrid during a high-level visit by a Moroccan delegation led by Abdelkabir Zahoud, President of the National Company for Studies of the Strait of Gibraltar. 

Their Spanish counterparts, headed by José Luis Goberna Caride, CEO of the Spanish Company for Fixed Link Studies, hosted a series of technical meetings focused on engineering design, digital infrastructure, and data management for the project.

One of the agreements, signed between the Spanish Center for Studies and Public Works Trials and Morocco’s Public Laboratory for Trials and Studies, covers joint work in areas such as soil engineering, rail and public transport systems, road safety, water infrastructure, and environmental studies.

The second pact, signed between the Higher Technical School of Civil Engineering in Madrid and Morocco’s Hassania School of Public Works, sets the stage for an educational and scientific partnership including student and faculty exchanges, joint research programs, and specialized training tied directly to the tunnel project.

These agreements are part of a growing bilateral effort to build a strong, diverse network of public institutions, engineers, universities, and research centers working in tandem. 

The initiative follows up on decisions made at the 43rd Morocco-Spain Joint Committee meeting in April 2023, where both sides reaffirmed a shared vision to fast-track the Gibraltar link through scientific and technical collaboration.

Once seen as a dream, the fixed link is now edging closer to reality a feat of engineering that would revolutionize trade, mobility, and geopolitics by connecting two continents with a single tunnel.