How to cross from SPAIN to MOROCCO by boat in 2025 ⛴️

How to cross from SPAIN to MOROCCO by boat in 2025 ⛴️

today I’m taking you with me on the long long way around from Spain to Morocco to show you how you can take one of the last remaining routes from Europe to Africa without flying I’m hoping to cross this entire country by train before jumping on a ferry across the straight of jalter and arriving victorious in Tangier having never set foot in an airport wishing for some good views of lesser known places in between and not yet knowing that this journey will end up teaching me a couple of life lessons along the way we start off in Barcelona where I’m up at silly o00 to walk down to this huge train station and find my platform for the first train of the day down to Granada it was my first train ride in Spain and after pre caffeine non-spanish speaking me had negotiated the security checkpoint I was just excited to get on board and get underway on this journey right the way down to the mountains of southern Spain knowing that it was just the first leg of a journey that would have me in another new country before too long my decision to travel this way was instantly validated not only by the train being shaped like a duck and rightfully earning the nickname elat but also when I sat down in this huge comfy and virtually empty first class Carriage but the real prize this morning was my glimpse of Spain outside of Barcelona which I had actually never seen before even if it was a very very quick Glimpse in some cases since we were over 300 km an hour on some stretches even at these speeds Granada is still over 6 hours away so if you take this route to one day just know that you have plenty of time to enjoy the questionable onboard entertainment in the form of this cartoon about a plane crash for some reason but also to go and attempt to order something from the dining car in my case this espresso was a successo but this little kind of Olives was just the latest addition to my list of foreign language mistakes as I didn’t notice from the Spanish on the menu that they were filled with fish all of the stuff were really nice though and the whole thing felt so professional how empty and undersold this train was did kind of make question how they can afford to run it at all but mostly just led to me enjoying a really relaxing and quiet ride through this beautiful country and looking forward to my next time on Spanish trains after a brief patch of fog the Landscapes around us changed again to tell us that we were deep into the mountains of Andalucia and approaching Granada which is a city that I covered in my last video in Greater detail so I’ll skip over it this time apart from saying oh my God it’s beautiful after a brief stay there partly learning about the history of Islam and Christianity in the area and partly eating these massive and delicious Tomatoes I completed the rest of the distance down to southern Spain by bus trying my best the whole journey not to be too disappointed about the bus not also being shaped like a fun animal until it dropped me in Alerus a Port City on this little Southern corner of Spain and the perfect jumping off point for an adventure across the straight of jaala to Morocco although at this point it’s worth mentioning because it leads to me getting annoyed in a second that the plain of ver traveler has a choice of two Ferry Crossings between these two countries one choice is to continue riding the bus down on this side to Spain’s absolute southern tip in TFA and take a fast passenger Ferry directly to the port in tangia or you can sail from here where I am in Alerus and go out this way on a boat that docks about 50 km east of Tangier leaving you to make your own way to the actual City but this one is a carferry with an open outside deck so either way you do an extra stretch on land on the Spanish side or on the Moroccan side and there was just one deciding factor for me I’ve never been to Jaa and I had my heart set on taking this chance to sail out past the rock leaving Europe behind on a relaxing boat journey across the high seas smelling the Salt Air and marveling at the pillars of Hercules on either side it all felt so classic and irresistable in my mind as we’ll see in a minute you can’t always get what you want before I into the Spanish sun and sorted the essentials espresso and snacks before walking down to the port to catch the next ferry to Morocco this felt like an adventurous Journey for sure but I knew that it wouldn’t be a particularly long one on account of the fact that these two continents are seriously close together you can easily see one side from the other and with the straight being only 14 km wide if it wasn’t so deep you could probably just build a swing bridge and be done with it but since we live in the real world this is how you take the bolera car ferry for the 90-minute crossing over to Morocco the check-in process at the harbor was easy and I was welcomed aboard in a good mood excited to watch The Rock disappear behind me hit Tangier and start exploring another new country but just one small detail about this boat ride would remind me that getting your hopes up while traveling is still a mugs game when you step on board you’re given this piece of paper for Moroccan immigration and you’re told in no uncertain terms to wait right here because you won’t be allowed off the boat without getting it stamped by the authorities who will be coming into this room in fact the entire immigration process happens at Sea which is actually pretty smart but meant that me and all the other passengers mostly German motorcyclists would spend the entire Crossing inside this weird canteen queuing to get our passport stamped not exactly the Vision that I had of a brave Voyage out into the unknown enjoying the sea views we set sail on time and I joined the queue of all of the other confused looking non-spanish-speaking people wondering how this whole thing worked until one longing glance out of the window was enough to convince myself forget the police for a second I’m not coming all this way without at least one video of me with the wind in my hair smiling at the rock of jalter here is that one video by the way totally worth it with the aform mentioned German biker gang staring at me for disobeying the system I soaked in the view for just a minute before letting myself back in from the outer deck and joining the very back of the queue which was slow like really slow that little maneuver to get that one video meant that I was dead last to get stamped but I did get seen to in the end without a problem coming home with even just a little rock footage was enough to make me smile at this point but I was also about to find out that it would lead to a little unexpected bonus on land I just had a second to look around the other areas of the ship which seemed pretty nice it was obviously designed for longer Journeys because it has all of these cafes and bars that were closed and an upper deck with cabins that was completely closed off before my brief reemergence on the outer deck to notice that the previous View of Spain and Jala had been completely switched with the approaching beautiful views of the Green Green Grass and High Atlas Mountains of Morocco and I was so excited to make land and get exploring after watching the boat dock and taking your first steps on Moroccan soil you get your passport and that little form checked and you get ushered onto this bus for all of the foot passengers in this case mostly just me which takes a little roundabout tour of the harbor before stopping at tangia Med station which apparently was supposed to be a combined ferry port and railway station so that you can easily cover the rest of the journey into the City by train but hasn’t actually seen any rail traffic in a while so I was left to try and haggle a ride into town with a taxi driver which even as I say it now sounds like the annoying part but this ride was actually my favorite part of this whole day I thought that the extra distance into the city was the price you pay for traveling via this route but actually far from being a penalty this drive had itself turned out to be the treat knowing that I’d done all of the stressful parts of the day and made it safely to the next country able to sit back for a while exhale and get this introduction to Morocco watching the Rolling Hills out of one side and the bright blue sea out of the other was all absolutely wonderful which just goes to show when you go out on a limb like this you never know what you’re going to get and therein lies the joy in the next video I’ll be taking you on the fastest train in Africa so don’t forget to subscribe for that thanks again to mantis sleep for sponsoring this video check them out at the link in the description for a discount and thanks to you for watching I’ll see you next next time

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I travel from Spain to Morocco without flying, by train & boat – but would I recommend that you use the same route?

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After taking the Italy-Tunisia boat earlier this year, I went in for seconds with the Spain-Morocco boat, via Granada, Algeciras and Tangier Med.

I chose to go via this route purely for a nice leisurely view sailing away from the rock of Gibraltar… but would I get it?

More on travelling by train and boat this way, without flying, with Renfe and Balearia: https://www.seat61.com/Morocco.htm

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