Two parts of the planet remain detached and could be connected by bridge – but one travel guru has explained why this hasn’t happened.
A travel guru has given the real reason for Europe not being connected to Africa by a bridge. The TikTok poster @geoglobetales shared a video of the reasons with a map of the continents explaining why.
He starts by saying: “Have you ever wondered why Europe and Africa are not connected?’ Look, they are separated by the Strait of Gibraltar only 14km wide. So why is there no bridge between them?”
He shows the closeness of the two land masses with Morocco on one side and Spain on the other and adds: “It’s not about distance. There do exist connections across wider straits such as the Channel Tunnel linking Britain and France, or the series of bridges and tunnels between Denmark and Sweden.”
His reasoning and explanation behind the reasons continues: “The thing is that the Strait of Gibraltar is extremely deep, where strong currents make a bridge structure highly unstable.
He adds: “Moreover the bottom of the strait is made of hard rock making it difficult to drill a tunnel especially compared to the Channel Tunnel”
The Strait he explains is “one of the busiest shipping routes” which connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic Ocean. And he adds “any construction would need to avoid affecting shipping traffic.
He also points out the area is “seismically active’ which adds further risks to a potential structure.
But he adds: “Despite this it is still technically possible to realise this project. But due to all these factors officially the project is not considered economically feasible.”
The feedback to his post had a range of responses. One person said: “If they wanted to build a bridge, they would. China has an air suspended bridge.”
Another person replied saying: “It’s not about depth or anything you mentioned. We all know why and we are happy not having connection.”
The responses continued: “We have a floating bridge in Kenya connecting Mombasa Island to the mainland…..Europe doesnt just want to be connected to Africa.”
One poster joked the distance was not far saying: “I could swim that”
But others were more realistic saying “There is nothing impossible in engineering…They don’t want the two continents connected lol [sic].”
The Mirror reported earlier how Spain’s Transport Minister, Oscar Puente, raised hopes for a 17.2-mile underwater tunnel linking Spain with Africa to become a reality in the coming years.
The Fixed Link Project for the Strait of Gibraltar was first discussed 40 years ago and is seen as a strategic key for both Spain and Morocco, as well as Europe and Africa.
His predecessor, Raquel Sanchez, had already sparked interest in this project back in February 2023. She expressed to the Moroccan government that the Spanish construction sector was keen to help develop infrastructure in Morocco.
On a visit to the country Mr Puente announced that a meeting focused on the Fixed Link Project would be scheduled “as soon as possible”.
It could lead to further progress in the development of the project, comes after the minister reached an agreement with his Moroccan counterparts.
