Morocco and Spain are to ask the European Union to finance a permanent link between their two countries across the Strait of Gibraltar, the Spanish government said Thursday.
Spain's Development Minister Magdalena Alvarez and Morocco's Minister of Equipment and Transport Karim Ghellab agreed during a meeting in Morocco to "jointly propose" to the EU that it help finance a permanent link, the ministry said in a statement.
The two ministers met during an official three-day trip to Morocco this week by Spain's King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia.
In December 2003 the two countries proposed an undersea tunnel similar to that under the Channel between Britain and France.
The two governments approved an investment of 27 million euros (35 million dollars) between 2004 and 2006 to study the feasibility of such a project, work on which which could start in 2008.
The tunnel would include two rail lines and a service tunnel of 38.7 kilometers (23.2 miles) long and would reach a depth of 400 metersfeet) under the sea, between Punta Paloma in Spain and Punta Malabata in Morocco.
