In the picture
Map of northern Morocco, showing the two logistics, industrial, and energy hubs being promoted by the Rabat government alongside the Spanish cities of Ceuta and Melilla.
The Strait of Gibraltar is one of the main hubs of international trade. It is a clear point of congestion that accounts for 10% of annual maritime traffic, with nearly 100,000 ships sailing through its waters each year. With this status in mind, both Morocco and Spain are trying to position themselves as the best hubs for freight traffic, serving as entrance products arriving from all over the world. However, in this degree program , the North African country is clearly winning at the moment, with its large investment in Tangier Med and the new port of Nador, whose areas of influence aim to encompass the Spanish cities of Ceuta and Melilla, respectively.
Morocco is seeing its geopolitical influence grow thanks to its diplomatic outreach and the momentum it is giving to various economic initiatives. Whether by recognizing Israel through the Abraham Accords or establishing itself as an emerging power in the Sahel following France's withdrawal, the North African country is seeing its sphere of influence gradually expand. The Strait of Gibraltar, where the strategic interests of Spain and Morocco overlap, is one of the main assets that the Alawite monarchy wants to play to its advantage. The construction of the Nador West Med port, just 50 kilometers from Melilla, and the expansion of project Med project are leading Morocco to position itself as an increasingly plausible alternative to the traditional monopoly held by the port of Algeciras around the Bay of Gibraltar.
This battle for dominance in the trafficking of containers, goods, and people crossing the strait is expanding into the energy sector due to European gas demand, with liquefied natural gas (LNG) emerging as a new core topic the economic chess game of the strait. In an attempt to also corner this maritime subject , the Moroccan government has designed a port that will feature a large industrial complex, as well as a new port facility focused onfuel unloading and processing. However, in this area, it seems that Spain will have no problem maintaining its advantage, as it is the European country with the most plants specializing in gas unloading.
Tangier Med
The launch of Tanger Med has begun to shift the economic dynamics of the region in Morocco's favor. Until the 2010s, Algeciras was the dominant port in the Strait and, practically, in the entire Iberian Peninsula. However, with the opening of the first phase of project Med project in 2007 and its subsequent expansion in 2019, Algeciras lost its position as the main port in the Mediterranean. In fact, in 2024, Tangier Med doubled the Issue containers (TEU) handled by Algeciras: 10.24 million TEU passed through the Moroccan port, while the Spanish port recorded just 4.7 million. This difference consolidated a leave trend leave maritime traffic in Algeciras, which had already begun in 2020, when it reached its recent peak of 5.1 million TEUs per year. With this status, Tangier Med, according to the latest estimates, has become the leading port in Africa, which has direct consequences for Algeciras and Spain as a whole.
Morocco has gained this strategic advantage thanks to a number of mistakes made by the Spanish and European authorities, two of which stand out in particular: the introduction of the so-called 'green tax' and the lack of investment in improving port infrastructure. The first, which has prompted complaints from port companies and workers, results from the European Union's application of a green tax on maritime traffic, seeking to encourage shipping companies to use less polluting fuel or more sustainable vessels, forcing them to pay a variable amount per container based on a calculation of the emissions produced by each shipping company, which can amount to up to €150,000 per ship. In 2024 and 2025, shipping companies had to pay for 40% of the emissions they produced; in 2026, the payment corresponds to 70% of emissions, and from 2027 onwards it will reach 100%. For this reason, many exporting companies decide download goods at a port such as Tangier, just 10 km from the peninsula, where they do not have to pay subject .
Nador West Med
The first phase of the Nador West Med port is scheduled to become operational between late 2026 and early 2027, with an initial estimated capacity of 3.5 million TEUs per year, expandable to 5.5 million in later phases. This figure would place it very close to the traffic recorded by the port of Algeciras in 2024. The container terminal will be operated by Marsa Maroc and the group CGM group , one of the leading companies in this field, which is based in France.
However, despite this ambition, success is not yet assured, because although trade through the Strait of Gibraltar has increased over the last ten years, the increase has been slight and there may not be sufficient demand to justify the expansion of infrastructure. Furthermore, although ports in the Schengen Area charge fees , they offer entrance to the European common market.
To this must be added the economic viability of project. The Moroccan government contributed €730 million to the construction of the port, to which €310 million was added by the European Bank for Reconstruction and development EBRD). The project on the industrial complex and fuel terminals becoming a regional hub, as in terms of freight traffic, Tangier Med would continue to have greater capacity due to its location on the Strait and could be subject to further expansion.
Spanish problems and Morocco's strategy
The lack of sufficient modernization of Spanish ports financial aid not financial aid increase the issue container ships passing through them. Tangier Med and Nador West Med have been designed as highly automated ports, where the use of labor is reduced to allow for a greater flow of goods. Algeciras, on the other hand, does not have subject developed infrastructure, which makes it impossible to unload and transport goods at the same speed. If this status , and in the absence of investment to modernize port infrastructure and improve economic opportunities in the Bay of Algeciras, the decline of the port of Algeciras will result in an estimated loss ofup to 1,600 jobs.
The financing of the construction of the new port of Nador through the EBRD has caused unease among Spanish businesses, particularly in Andalusia, as Spain's contributions to the European bank's funds have ended up going to a rival of Spanish ports, rather than being invested in their modernization.
On the other hand, several companies in the Algeciras Bay area engaged in international agricultural trade have complained about the slowness with which goods cross the strait from Tangier to Spain. The delay, due to a lack of adequate infrastructure on the Moroccan side, causes perishable goods such as fruit to spoil, leading import companies to relocate to other parts of the Mediterranean so as not to be adversely affected.
Supply chains can be a powerful weapon in plenary session of the Executive Council 21st plenary session of the Executive Council , as was evident during the COVID-19 pandemic, and Morocco is well aware of this reality. The Alawite monarchy wants to position itself as a strategic point for African and Latin American goods arriving on the European continent, which is in line with its diplomatic policy of presenting itself as a regional leader in the Sahel, a region for whose benefit Morocco has presented the so-called'Atlantic initiative', which seeks to provide access to the Atlantic Ocean for products from landlocked area countries through the construction of a mega-port in the Western Sahara area, the Atlantic Dakhla.
Territorial objectives
To reverse the status, it is essential that Spain increase funding for its ports, but beyond economic issues, there is a need for a clear political commitment, as Morocco is primarily playing on that other field. The Tangier Med and Nador West Med projects seek to reinforce Morocco's territorial claims in the strait. What Rabat intends to achieve with these infrastructures—one near Ceuta and the other near Melilla—is to stifle these two Spanish autonomous cities, either by blocking their economic growth or by creating dependency. Morocco continues its irredentism after its recent 'victory' with the UN committee resolution on Western Sahara. The current good bilateral relations with Madrid do not mean that Morocco has ceased its claims on Spanish sovereign territories.