Spain and Morocco have taken significant steps toward bridging the two countries—who lie only nine miles apart from each other—via a tunnel, much like the Channel Tunnel that connects Great Britain and France.

While neither government has offered any concrete financial outlooks, private analysts have suggested that the tunnel would cost between $6.5 and $13 billion dollars. Unlike the Britain-France Channel Tunnel, which opened in 1994, the planned route of the Spain-Morocco tunnel lies 985 feet beneath the sea, and in much softer soil. The Channel lies only 200 feet beneath the water, in a hard-chalk rock seabed.

Both governments are optimistic about the project, and it has been noted that the tunnel could be complete by 2025. The tunnel is expected to greatly improve the economies of both Southern Europe and Northern Africa.