03/16/2007 Archived Article: "Spain, Morocco agree train tunnel linking countries"
According to the website expatica.com, Spain and Morocco announced their joint commitment to link their two countries by building a train tunnel under the Strait of Gibraltar.
Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said he was "firmly decided" upon making the tunnel a reality, but he demanded the financial help of the European Union since it is an intercontinental project that would contribute to "growth, development and well-being" on both sides of the Mediterranean Sea.
Meanwhile, the meeting marked, in the words of Moroccan Premier Driss Jettou, "an important milestone" in the good relations between Rabat and Madrid.
The positive atmosphere also was reflected in the meeting between King Mohammed VI and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, during which the monarch proposed creating a permanent bilateral working group on immigration that would be headed by the respective interior ministers.
The two governments also signed an accord to facilitate the repatriation of unaccompanied minors.
The agreement establishes that Spain will finance the measures to protect and transport the minors and will help prevent emigration by fostering the development of Moroccan regions with strong migratory potential.
Zapatero emphasised that the flood of illegal immigration from the North African kingdom fell by 60 percent during 2006, at the same time that the number of Moroccan workers with labor contracts rose.
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