Barcelona Declaration & Marrakesh Compact
- Caroline Stephens
- Feb 10
- 3 min read
May be of interest from 2007, I wonder if this had anything to do with the Barcelona Declaration of 1995, to allow millions free movement from the African continent kept secret for 10 years?
J.S
Or Marrakesh Compact?
The hole in the ground that could connect Africa withEurope
By Fiona Govan Last Updated: 1:03am BST 10/04/2007 Daily Telegraph
Laden with fishing gear Mohammed Ahrare strolled pasta rusting scaffold frame rigged with weights andpulleys on a cliff-top outside Tangier and set up hisrod at his favourite fishing spot.The 16-year-old tilted his head at the insignificantlooking structure and said with a certain amount ofpride: "That is a very important spot. From there theywill build the tunnel that will link Morocco toSpain."Tunnel route - click to enlargeHe gazed wistfully across the choppy waters where thecoast of Spain appears tantalizingly close. "I hopethey build it soon," he said. "I can't wait to use itto travel to Spain."Realistically Mohammed will be in his twenties beforework on the tunnel progresses beyond the testingstages taking place in the exploration shaft beneathhis feet. But since Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero,Spain's prime minister, met King Mohammed VI ofMorocco last month to pledge his country's support,the project has edged one step closer to fruition.A consortium of engineering firms from Morocco, Spain,France and Switzerland has drawn up blueprints for atwin-track rail tunnel to ferry vehicles and footpassengers between the southern tip of Spain and theNorth African coast. Feasibility studies are due to becompleted this year."It's a mammoth task and fraught with difficulties,"said Ahmed Chraibi, head of the project at Ingema, aMoroccan engineering firm."We are dealing with far greater geologicalcomplexities than they encountered with the Channeltunnel and we know how difficult that was. But westill think it's possible."Complicated rock strata, a history of earthquakes andpowerful underwater currents through the narrowwaterway where the Atlantic joins the Mediterraneancompound the problems.Morocco: the exploratory tunnel site at Cape MalabataIf all goes to plan, by 2025 passengers could leaveEurope somewhere under Punta Paloma, just outside thetown of Tarifa, in Spain, and cross the Africancoastline under Cape Malabata, to the east of Tangier,an underwater stretch of some 17 miles..With gently sloping approaches on either side, thefull length of the tunnel will be 25 miles and isunofficially estimated to cost between €6.5-13billion(£4.4-£8.8bn).The two nations say that they are a long way fromresolving financing details but hope to securesignificant European Union funding. Mr Zapaterobelieves that the tunnel would "greatly speed growth,development and prosperity" on both sides of theMediterranean.In some ways, a tunnel would mirror changes alreadytaking place in the form of increased trade andimmigration between Europe and North Africa.advertisementThe number of Moroccan immigrants in Spain has soaredin recent years with more than 500,000 living therelegally, according to official statistics, while manymore are undocumented residents.At the same time, droves of Europeans arerediscovering the charms of Morocco, a former Spanishand French colony that won independence in 1956.Planners envision a day when travellers can board ahigh-speed train in Seville and arrive in Tangier amere 90 minutes later. Today such a trip by rail andferry takes at least three times as long. Moroccanexporters could ship their mainly agricultural goodsnorth more efficiently and European investors would betempted into the area.While in Morocco the population is optimistic aboutthe proposal, the Spanish government will have to workhard to reassure residents that the tunnel will not be a magnet for illegal immigrants or become a target forterrorists.Across the strait in Tarifa, a windy town of 10,000and a world magnet for kite surfing, people refuse toworry unduly. "People here don't see the project assomething tangible," said the mayor, Miguel Manella."They say 'I'll never live to see that'."
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