The Strait of Gibraltar and the Geopolitics of Maritime Corridors in the Era of Ruptures

The Strait of Gibraltar is, as Paul Pascon (Franco-Moroccan ethnologist) would say, a place composite who bears the superimposed memories of multicultural historical periods.

Indeed, from the 9th century BC, the Phoenicians wove the first links between Africa and Europe, followed by the Carthaginians and then the Romans, transforming this passage into a lively artery of human and commercial exchanges.

The 20th century brings its share of geopolitical shocks: the French and Spanish protectorates in Morocco (1912-1956) fragment the southern shore, while Tangier, established as an International Zone (1923-1956). The Moroccan independence of 1956 restored national sovereignty but left the Sahara, Ceuta, Melilla, and the Zaffarines Islands pending.

The first geopolitical shock occurred in 711 AD when the Umayyad military leader Tariq ibn Ziyad and his Muslim army crossed the strait, inaugurating seven centuries of Muslim presence marked by a radiant Andalusian culture on both shores. The second shock was the Christian Reconquista and Spain’s seizure of the Moroccan enclaves of Melilla (1496) and Sebta (1580), which became lasting symbols of contested frontiers. The third shock occurred in 1704 with the British capture of the Rock, endorsed by the Treaty of Utrecht (1713): Gibraltar then became the “key to the Mediterranean”, a logistical pivot of the British Empire, especially after the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869.

Today, the strait lives under a fragile triadic balance between Morocco, the United Kingdom, and Spain, framed by the Montego Convention of 1982 but weakened by persistent disputes.

In 2026, the Strait of Gibraltar has emerged as a global security safety valve in the face of the paralysis of the eastern straits (95% traffic drop in Ormuz, 60% reduction in Suez). Beyond maritime logistics, the strait has become a vital artery for European energy security, connecting African reserves to Southern Europe through underwater gas pipelines. However, this passage has become a center of multiple geopolitical rivalries where the interests of local and supraregional powers intersect.

The crisis in the Strait of Hormuz and wars in the Middle East have further consolidated Gibraltar’s position as an essential maritime route; evidenced by the significant rerouting via the Cape of Good Hope, reinforcing the strategic value of Gibraltar and ports on both shores – especially Tanger Med and Algeciras, Valence to the North, Cadiz to the West, and Nador West Med to the East.

The strait boasts high maritime traffic, with over 100,000 commercial vessels crossing it annually, including oil tankers, container ships, ro-ro vessels, and ferries. For instance, in February 2026, truck traffic on the Algeciras-Tanger Med route reached 44,426 units.

The strategic importance of the Strait of Gibraltar is undeniable, serving as a composite space where logistics, surveillance, energy infrastructure, and geopolitical rivalries converge. Its resilience depends on the ability to manage multiple sources of tension: Iranian influence, arms races, Moroccan-Algerian and Moroccan-Spanish rivalries, territorial disputes, and political uncertainties in the Western Mediterranean. In this context, the Kingdom of Morocco, with its wise leadership, strategy of multi-alignment, and balancing act between rival powers, appears as a stabilizing factor. A detente between Rabat and Algiers, combined with containment of Iranian influence and the realization of structuring synergies, would significantly reduce the risks to this vital corridor for Europe.