La Yijad en Eurabia

One of the resolutions I made after the Counter Jihad workshop in Vienna was to write more frequently about Spanish issues in English. I had already done it a few times for Gates of Vienna; I will continue to do so as long as the Baron deems my contribution valuable. I am also open to the requests by the readers.

I was asked in the las Counter Yihad workshop in Vienna about the project to connect Morocco and Spain by a tunnel. I had read and blogged about this issue some time ago but I had not followed the latest developments. I have now investigated them, and I have found that the project goes on –still as a project in the study phase- but unchallenged. I present to you the results of my investigation.

*****

I will start with a curiosity. The idea of connecting both continents with a tunnel is not new. I have found an early speculation, a proposal to the Spanish Ministerio de Fomento (Ministry of Civil Works) (PDF, Spanish), dated 1918, when the north of Morocco was a Spanish Protectorate. The first studies (PDF, Spanish) of the project were done during the Primo de Rivera Dictatorship. In those days, the tunnel was considered a geo-strategic opportunity for Spain. It goes without saying that, in the current demographical situation, it would aggravate the Northafrican invasion of Spain, the second in history. Yes, it is not the economy, it is the demography!

The idea was forgotten up until 1980, when Spain and Morocco signed an agreement to study the feasibility of a “Permanent Connection Europe-Africa through the Gibraltar Strait”. In those days Spain had just approved the post-Franco Constitution and was ruled by a “moderate right”. It may be worth mentioning that five years before, when Franco was dying, Morocco invaded the Sahara, a colonial province of Spain, which is still the responsible State for the territory according to “international law”. I find strage that a State makes such agreement with another one that has occupied part of its territory, but that is not the topic today.

There were a number of studies (Spanish), which discarded the bridge and identified two possibilities for the tunnel. One shorter (14 Km) but deeper (900 m); the other, longer (28 Km) but less deep (400 m). The possibility to build a bridge was discarded.

In the 80s and 90s, the studies stayed dormant, but in 2003 (at the end of Aznar´s government) the idea was waked up again. Spain and Morocco agreed to start the technical studies to build a double railway tunnel with an intermediate service and maintenance tunnel. They agreed to spend 27 million euros in years 2004 to 2006. For some reason, it was not done. In March 2004, Spain had suffered the most deadly terrorist attack of its history, carried out by Moroccan citizens -if we are to believe the official version-. I assume that this could be the main reason.

In 2004, after those deadly terrorist attacks, the citicens chose to change to a socialist government. In November 2005, in the frame of the I Hispano-Moroccan Meeting, Morocco and Spain committed to invest 10 million euro (Spanish) in the next year to further study the tunnel:

The investment to be made in 2005 and in 2006 will reach ten million euros, equivalent to quantity invested since 1996, when it was decided that a tunnel was preferable to the bridge originally planned.

According to the [Spanish] minister, the railway tunnel will be funded 50% by the two countries. “We have conducted geological studies of the area; now starts the phase to analyze how to drill it”.

In summary, in 2005, the tunnel profits of a real boost: the investment on the project that connects Morocco to Europe was increased tenfold, even if it is inferior to the 27 millions previously committed. I have found no public information that could explain this lower budget.

The master plan for the project would be the following:

1. Drilling of the service tunnel. To be done as soon as the initial technical plan is drafted. The data gathered while drilling this tunnel will allow to fine tune the railway tunnel project, reducing technical and budget risks.
2. Drilling of one of the railway tunnels.
3. While this tube is drilled, Morocco and Spain will work on the surface railway.
4. Drilling of the second railway tunnel. If the traffic of the first tunnel confirms that a second one is needed.

Click on this text to enlarge.

In 2006, the Spanish public company SECEG and the Moroccan SNED concluded a contract with a consortium of four companies: Typsa (Sapnish), Ingemar (Moroccan), Geodata (Italian) and Lombardi (Swiss). Giovanni Lombardi, the designer of the Channel Tunnel will carry out the technical detailed studies for the construction of the tunnel. This interview (Spanish) contains very relevant information. I translate some of Lombardi’s statements:

“It’s an unprecedented challenge as regards the construction of major infrastructures, in the limits of technical feasibility”.

“By comparison, the English Channel was a child’s game (…) its depth and the water pressure is much smaller, ocean currents are weaker and the rock is more solid”.

It seems that the tunnel will be a technical challenge indeed, Moreover, for some reason Lombardi has failed to mention a most concerning issue: The tunnel will cross an active fault of the African and the Eurasian tectonic plates, with a moderate seismic risk. I wonder whether some reader could tell me more about this issue.

Spanish and Morocan Ministers of Transport

The technical studies by Lombardi were supposed to be finished in one year, but I have found no update. In any case, the project goes on with the full political support from Spanish government. In August 2007, in the frame of the Africa-Europe Summit held in Lisbon, the Spanish Foreign Minister confirmed the “determination” of both countries to have the tunnel in operation by 2025 at the latest. He declared that “Morocco and Spain are the two connecting countries, the two links of the chain needed to bring together both continents”.

I have also found this article in the WaPo (A ‘Chunnel’ for Spain and Morocco), which includes some statemnts by Karim Ghellab, Morocco’s minister of transportation: “It’s not easy to predict a date yet, but it is a project that will happen.”. Also to note: “It will completely change our world”. I am not sure it will change Morocco, but of course it would indeed change Spain, not necessarily for good.

Zapatero and Mojamé VI, present the new map of Morocco.
A meaningful fake.

Now, putting apart the technical issues, the (multi)million dollar question is: Are there economic reasons to take those huge technical risks? Is there enough traffic between Morocco and Spain to justify the risk and the expense?

No, on the contrary, in Lombardi’s interview there is a reference to this aspect:

What percentage of passengers and cargo traffic will continue to ferry when the tunnel starts operating? Will the tunnel attract passengers who used to travel to Morocco or Algeria from Almeria, Alicante or even Sète (France)?

Last year [2006] Eurotunnel had 16 million passengers. The forecasts, not yet very accurate, suggest that the tunnel of the Strait will reach only half of that traffic in 2015, if it was then opened. Ten years later it would reach around 10 million.

Passenger traffic in the Strait is also highly concentrated in the summer months, when nearly three million immigrants Moroccans returning by car to his country on vacation.

The answer to questions about increased traffic depends largely on political considerations. If Algeria reopens its border with Morocco, closed since 1994, and if the two heavyweights Maghreb improve cross-border road, the tunnel will be more viable from an economic standpoint.

So, it would have only half the traffic of the Channel Tunnel, which has been in deep financial troubles; moreover, the traffic will be concentrated in the summer season. Not very encouraging.

The article in the Wapo also contains some interesting financial figures:

Also looming large is the red ink incurred by the Chunnel. Private investors, who paid the bulk of the $20 billion price tag, have suffered heavy losses; the operator, Eurotunnel, has verged on bankruptcy for years.

While neither Moroccan nor Spanish officials have given a bottom-line estimate for their project, private analysts said it could cost $6.5 billion to $13 billion. The two nations said that they are a long way from resolving financing details but that they hope to rely heavily on the European Union and the private sector.

Now, this tunnel, which is much more challenging technically, cannot be cheaper than the Channel one; the 13 billion must include only some initial phase. If the Channel Tunnel, less challenging and with more traffic, has experienced large financial troubles and has been on the edge of bankruptcy, it is not difficult to conclude that the Strait Tunnel cannot be financially viable.

There is one way out: getting political support, and Morocco –the main beneficiary- is playing its cards masterly: Morocco has involved France in the business. In autumn 2007, it has started to plan for a high speed rail network. This plan has no sense if the railway network was not connected to Spain; i.e. if there is no tunnel. Alstom and other French companies will build the high speed railway; a contract of EUR 3000 million. The allocation to the French companies has been decided at the highest level (by the King Mohamed VI), no international tendering process will be followed.

Spanish companies have not even been invited, even if they also have the expertise and are currently building the Spanish high speed railway network. No need. Zapatero had already announced in his visit to Rabat in March 2007 that he is firmly decided to give a boost to the tunnel, so what.

Sarkozy will host a high level meeting on the Euro –Mediterranean Union next July, just before the national holiday that celebrates the take over of the Bastille, a privileged prison for aristocrats that had only two prisoners. I can envisage that this will be one of the most visible projects connected to that Union.

Is there any way to stop the tunnel? I do not know, but if there is one, it will be the financial aspect: without the financial support from the EU, the tunnel will not be built. This is the weakest point of the chain, the one to broken. In any case, in 2025, when the tunnel could be in operation, the fate of Europe will have already been decided.

Tags: España, Marruecos, Negocios, Política por AMDG
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Es una de esas noticias que nuestros medios de comunicación habituales no nos cuentan. A Marruecos hay que venderlo como país moderado, amigo y aliado:

A las 4 de la mañana del día 7 de junio, más de 3000 policías de diferentes cuerpos se han lanzado violentamente contra el piquete que mantenía cortados los accesos al puerto y, tras dispersarlo brutalmente, han empezado a entrar en las casas, deteniendo a sus habitantes, saqueando, robando, cogiendo rehenes si no encontraban a quien buscaban. Se habla de muertos (la cadena Al Jazeera habla de 4 muertos) y bastantes heridos graves, también entre la policía.

Desde hace tiempo, los Ait Baamran, tribu amazigh de la zona, vienen denunciando su marginación, el retraso del funcionamiento del nuevo puerto y de todas las promesas de desarrollo, el paro generalizado y el enchufismo para las plazas de empleo público por parte del Ayuntamiento. En setiembre de 2007, el boicot a las elecciones parlamentarias fue prácticamente total, respondiendo al llamamiento del conjunto de las asociaciones.

El pasado 30 de mayo, una gran manifestación se dirigió al puerto, decidiendo instalar un campamento bloqueando la entrada e impidiendo la salida de los camiones frigoríficos de transporte de pescado.

A partir de ese día se suceden las manifestaciones. El día 2 de junio una manifestación de más de 200 mujeres se junta con los jóvenes, llegando a concentrarse unas 4.000 personas delante del ayuntamiento, consiguiendo la apertura de negociaciones con las autoridades locales y regionales. Se constituye una comisión para negociar, fijándose como reivindicaciones:

medidas inmediatas para cubrir las necesidades de las familias más necesitadas finalización de los proyectos de desarrollo económico prometidos (puerto y zona industrial) el respeto de los derechos y de la dignidad de los trabajadores del puerto.

Las autoridades que, en todo momento, han tratado de criminalizar el movimiento, acusándole de ilegal y de perturbador del orden, no tuvieron más remedio que negociar, ofreciendo la apertura de una fábrica de conservas de pescado en un plazo de 45 días y de abrir la bolsa de empleo público de la solidaridad nacional en un plazo de dos meses. Pero la población, cansada de promesas, desde el 2005, y considerando insuficientes las promesas de las autoridades, decidieron mantener el bloqueo del puerto y las movilizaciones.

La violenta intervención del día 7 ha sido la respuesta de las autoridades que muestran abiertamente su verdadero rostro: la represión. Una manifestación por la liberación de los detenidos y de denuncia del pillaje de casas por parte de la policía, ha provocado enfrentamientos que han continuado durante todo el día.

Actualmente, la ciudad de Sidi Ifni se encuentra totalmente asediada y en estado de sitio. Es difícil recibir información fidedigna. Se están produciendo continuas detenciones cogiendo como rehenes a familiares de los que han huido de su casa.

¿Cuatro muertos? En nuestros medios un palestino muerto es digno de portada, pero en este caso hay un silencio absoluto. Gracias Stern.

Sidi Ifni en estado de sitio tras una brutal represión policial

Tags: Disturbios, Marruecos por AMDG
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Se trata de Rama Yade (foto), secretaria de Estado de asuntos exteriores se origen senegalés, quien como Fadela Amara y Rachid Dati, forma parte de la cuota femenina, racial y musulmana del gobierno del gran Sarkozy:

“De conformidad con el artículo 18 de la Declaración Universal de los Derechos Humanos y de conformidad con la tradición de hospitalidad de Argelia, creo que sería bueno tener un gesto de clemencia “.

“El cristianismo no es una amenaza para el Islam en Argelia (…) los cristianos en Argelia son el 1% de la población, es decir, aproximadamente 11.500 personas, 32 iglesias más de 32.000 mezquitas, por lo tanto, me creo que no hay una amenaza religiosa “.

Señora, no se trata de clemencia, se trata de derechos: cualquier persona tiene derecho a poseer y distribuir una Biblia o un Corán. Y, desde luego, ese derecho no depende de que sean una minoría o de que no sean una amenaza para el Islam.

Se trata de la apóstata musulmana a la que encontraron con unas biblias.

Chrétienté : des nouvelles d’Algérie

Tags: Argelia, Violencia religiosa por AMDG
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Estos creo estos que también están por la Alianza de Civilizaciones:

Un cristiano argelino detenido hace cinco días por portar una Biblia y libros de estudio bíblico personal recibió una multa de us$460 dolares y una sentencia suspendida de un año de prisión la semana pasada, dijo un líder de la iglesia argelina.

El evangélico, que pidió anonimato por razones de seguridad, dijo a hermanos cristianos en su ciudad natal de Tiaret que la policía lo presionó a retornar al Islam mientras estaba en custodia.

Y si no lo están, solo tienen que pedirlo. Tiempo habrá después de declararse “horrorizados”.

Tags: Argelia, Violencia religiosa por AMDG
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Porque es incompatible con el desempeño de la profesión. Lo dice el director de seguridad:

“The women who want to join the police will have to renounce the veil because this Islamic attribute is incompatible with the difficult job in the police,” Tounsi said during a ceremony of the week on the national security information in Skikda (600 km east of Algiers).

Son cerca del 8% del total de los policías argelinos.

No Veils for Policewomen — In Algeria

Tags: Argelia, Mujer por AMDG
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The frigate “Mendez Nunez is equipped with sophisticated surveillance systems for sea, land and air. It was monitoring in real time every move of the Somali pirates, who with the booty in their hands, flee the scene with several Zodiacs letting safe and alone the fishermen in Playa Bakio ship. The frigate, with a 600-kilometer range radar, did not intervene, in spite of having planned an operation to capture kidnappers and being at short distance of the ship. They had orders from the Spanish government not to do so, even when the lives of fishermen were not risk. (…)

Among the recent acts of piracy in Somali waters, the Spanish tuna ship is the only one “resolved” without military intervention. That is, is the only case in recent years where it has been possible for the criminals to escape with the loot under the eyes of a naval ship that has the most advanced combat systems and high technology in the world. A system that, apart form Spain, only the U.S. Navy has [They may be exaggerating… If this is the case, it is obviously because it was acquired from the US Navy. In any case, the name of the system is not mentioned]. In previous cases, a French yacht and a Dubai tanker, the French army and the Somali one intervened in the operation. In the Spanish case, the frigate was only allowed to act as a passive witness.

The way chosen by Zapatero - the “diplomatic negotiation” – which has led to accept the blackmail with the surrender of the ransom money- has caused great embarrassment among the Armed Forces, which fail to understand why the Government did not allow the frigate to intervene in order to prevent the escape of the kidnappers with the ransom. They consider that the decision of the Executive represents a serious setback for the international prestige of the Spanish Armed Forces and say that their European colleagues have let them know their surprise for the failure to intervene against the Somali kidnappers.

(…)

The sources consulted claim that it would have been perfectly feasible to undertake an operation similar to that of France. In this case, following the payment of the ransom, the French forces deployed in the area followed the hijackers of the yacht “Le Ponant” and capture them onshore. After being arrested, the pirates were taken to an aircraft carrier and sent to France. (…) On the opposite, Zapatero’s Government chose not to act despite the fact that the control and surveillance systems of the frigate and the preparation of the troops guaranteed a successful intervention.

(…)

De la Vega [Vice-president], satisfied

While the pirates enjoy the spoils and the Armed Forces criticize that the military was only allowed to act as witnesses to a crime, Teresa Fernandez de la Vega declared yesterday that the executive “has done everything needed and nothing that should not be done” and refused to speak about the payment of a ransom.

Source: El Gobierno impidió que la fragata actuara después de pagar el rescate. Moreover, this article (Spanish) elaborates on the growing irritation among military and the opposition against the Government’s decision not to capture the pirates

Tags: España, Política, Somalia, Terrorismo por AMDG
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Mala noticia para Zapatero; se desvive por complacer al Moro, pero el Franchote lo supera sin despeinarse. En este caso ha sido el jefe de gobierno, Fillon, quien ha ido a presentar sus respetos a Mojamé.

Francia pondrá el asunto entre las prioridades de su turno de seis meses en la presidencia de la Unión Europea (segundo semestre del presenta año). Es el último turno de presidencias nacionales. A partir de 2009 tendremos presidente europeo, con su mansión y su jet privado.

La France veut faire entrer le Maroc dans l’UE

Tags: Francia, Marruecos, Política por AMDG
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No he visto a los medios ni blogs españoles tratar el asunto de la crisis alimentaria mundial que se está gestando. Yo me he enterado por EU Referéndum y he repicado algunas de sus noticias:

Se empieza el hambre a sentir en el mundo, tras las últimas subidas de precios.

Hacia la hambruna mundial (y la glaciación)

Reino Unido: 22,000 muertes de ancianos en 2006, directamente atribuidos al frío

Lo leí ayer en La Razón:

La desesperada situación económica que atraviesa el país, que ha dejado más de cincuenta muertos en las colas para comprar pan subvencionado, ha llevado a la sociedad civil a desobedecer las advertencias del Gobierno y unirse a los trabajadores de Mahala para protestar contra el alza de los precios de los productos alimenticios -que han subido un 15 por ciento en 2008- y los bajos salarios.

Por descontado, el río revuelto será aprovechado por los pescadores.

El Gobierno ve tras las huelgas la influencia «desestabilizadora» de los Hermanos Musulmanes y del Centro de Servicios para Sindicatos y Trabajadores. Su director, Kamal Abbas, denunció a LA RAZÓN que las autoridades han cerrado sus cuatro oficinas y abierto varias causas judiciales contra él. «Vivimos en una dictadura, pero la clase obrera se moviliza porque tiene hambre».

PS: También lo encuentro en GoV, donde elevan la cifra de muertos a 70. Leo además que la Universidad de al Azahar –la más prestigiosa institución académica del Islam suní- ha declarado mártires a quienes mueran en la cola del pan subvencionado. Nos informa además de que el pan subvencionado es la comida principal del 60% de la población. Además ponen este video:

Tags: Egipto por AMDG
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Eso sí que es multiculturalidad:

Aquí está el vídeo, francés-alemán, pero las imágenes son obvias.

Tags: Marruecos, Multiculturalismo, Negocios, Noticias sorprendentes por AMDG
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Qué horror. Y encima el fabricante se niega a corregirlos:

Independent al Badil newspaper wrote that China has launched on the Egyptian market digital copies of the Koran with missing verses. The importer called upon the Chinese producer to correct the error, but the producer refused, the newspaper said. (ANSAmed).

Nos ha jodío. Habrá hecho una tirada de varios millones y no los va a hacer pasta. Estos moritos creen que los chinos se van a achantar. Qué lancen una fatua.

Tags: Egipto, Noticias sorprendentes por AMDG
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