The planned tunnel is thus expected to join the two shores of what was once known as finis terrae in the imaginary of Greco-Roman antiquity, a region that has always been strongly integrated into the trade routes of the Mediterranean and Atlantic, from ancient times to the modern day. Far from representing the end of the world, as it did in the past, it has come to position itself as a gateway to a globalized world today. The Strait of Gibraltar is now a flashpoint in the maritime trade of people and goods between Europe, North Africa, the Mediterranean and North America, especially after the port and industrial development projects completed in Tangier and the Bay of Algeciras in recent years.

The articles in Issue 21 of the journal Awraq are the result of a multidisciplinary seminar held with the same name held at the headquarters of Casa Árabe Madrid on November 11 and 12, 2021. This event was organized by Casa Árabe, the École des hautes études hispaniques et ibériques (Casa de Velázquez, Madrid) and Toletum (Network for Research on the Iberian Peninsula in Antiquity, University of Hamburg). The purpose of that seminar was to question the predictability of the economic developments of both regions, i.e. southern Spain and North Africa from a cross-sectional and diachronic perspective, and from the point of view of port cities.

In conjunction with the presentation, those attending may view an exhibition made up of panels about the studies and technical drawings created for the Strait of Gibraltar Fixed Link, offered by SECEGSA.