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| The Rock of Gibraltar rising above the strait between Spain and Morocco |
This Spain to Morocco overland leg carried us from Mar de Pulpí in Almería to Tangier, with Shehzadi, our Toyota Tundra, doing the usual diplomatic work of making border officials stare at Georgian plates as if we had arrived from a cartographic prank.
The map, because we enjoy making geography look mildly accused, is here: MAP. It followed directly from our Greece to Spain via Italy ferry crossing. The next practical problem was the Strait of Gibraltar: drive south through Spain, put Shehzadi on a ferry, and resume on Moroccan roads.
Spain to Morocco Overland: Algeciras to Tanger Med Ferry, Strait of Gibraltar and Tangier — Post Summary
This episode follows Shehzadi from Mar de Pulpí across southern Spain to Algeciras, by vehicle ferry across the Strait of Gibraltar to Tanger Med, and on to Tangier for the first overnight of our 2025 Morocco return.
| What's Covered | |
| 🧭 | Route at a Glance — Mar de Pulpí to Tangier by road, ferry and port transfer |
| 🚙 | Mar de Pulpí to Algeciras — southern Spain road run and ferry approach |
| ⛴️ | Algeciras Ferry Port — vehicle staging and boarding for Morocco |
| 🌊 | Strait of Gibraltar — Rock of Gibraltar and Europe-to-Africa crossing |
| 🛂 | Tanger Med — customs, vehicle entry and road toward Tangier |
| 🌆 | Tangier — first overnight of the 2025 Morocco return |
Video: Europe to Africa overland by road and ferry, driving from Spain to Morocco and back through Tanger and Chefchaouen.
We left Mar de Pulpí for Algeciras in Shehzadi, crossed the Strait of Gibraltar by vehicle ferry to Tanger Med, then drove west to Tangier. This was the southern-Spain road, ferry and Moroccan customs leg of our 2025 overland journey.
The road south was practical, pretty, and occasionally interrupted by roadwork, because Europe enjoys reminding drivers that civilization is mostly orange cones. We used the Mediterranean motorway network where the route allowed, passing dry hills, coastal towns, service areas, and long views that make southern Spain feel older than the asphalt under the tires.
Method: Shehzadi by road plus vehicle ferry across the Strait of Gibraltar
Themes: southern Spain road travel · Strait of Gibraltar · Morocco return
Vehicle: Shehzadi (2024 Toyota Tundra)
Route at a Glance
- Mar de Pulpí to Algeciras: southern Spain road run toward the Strait of Gibraltar.
- Algeciras Ferry Port: vehicle check-in, staging and boarding for Morocco.
- Strait of Gibraltar: ferry crossing toward Tanger Med with the Rock of Gibraltar in view.
- Tanger Med: Moroccan customs, vehicle entry and the road toward Tangier.
- Tangier: first overnight of our 2025 Morocco return.
Mar de Pulpí to Algeciras: Spain Runs Out of Road
Leaving Mar de Pulpí felt like the end of one chapter and the start of a border officer's future confusion. We had crossed from Georgia to Türkiye, through Greece and North Macedonia, across Italy, and into Spain. The next route line ran straight across water.
Southern Spain made a proper send-off of it. The route carried us through dry hills, coastal traffic, service stops, and road construction that appeared with the timing of a stage villain. Detours pushed us briefly into smaller roads, where orange groves, white villages, and roadside cafés took over from motorway rhythm.
The coffee did its job with frightening efficiency. Spain does not hand you a weak cup and hope for the best. Spain hands you a small cup and waits for your soul to catch up.
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| Algeciras Ferry Port, Spain, where Shehzadi lined up for the crossing to Morocco |
Algeciras Ferry Port: Boarding for Morocco
Algeciras is one of those ports where the map suddenly becomes physical. Trucks wait. Families wait. Customs forms wait. Everyone pretends they know exactly what line they are in, which is one of ferry travel's most beloved myths.
We joined the flow toward Morocco with Shehzadi among European cars, commercial vehicles, and travelers carrying half a household in roof boxes. The process was straightforward, but a full-size American pickup with Georgian plates does not exactly blend in. Shehzadi has many virtues. Invisibility is not among them.
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| Vehicle lanes at Algeciras Ferry Port before the Strait of Gibraltar crossing |
Once the ferry loading began, the dock settled into that special port choreography: waves, whistles, hand signals, reverse lights, engines, and drivers receiving urgent instructions in languages they only half understood. Somehow it works. Maritime order, apparently, is chaos with a timetable.
The Strait of Gibraltar: Europe Waves at Africa
The Strait of Gibraltar is a narrow sea passage with an absurd amount of history packed into it. Phoenicians, Romans, Muslim dynasties, European empires, merchants, soldiers, and modern ferry passengers have all moved through here. Some carried goods. Some carried armies. We carried snacks and a very large Toyota.
From the deck, the Rock of Gibraltar stood out clearly. In Greek myth, this area was tied to the Pillars of Heracles, the western edge of the known Mediterranean world. The old story says Heracles split the mountain barrier and opened the passage between the sea and the ocean. We cannot confirm the construction permit, but the myth has excellent visual branding.
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| The Rock of Gibraltar seen from the ferry deck during the Spain to Morocco crossing |
The crossing took about an hour and a half, which is just long enough to feel like a real voyage and short enough that nobody starts naming the ship after themselves. Europe faded behind us. Africa sharpened ahead. The Strait did its quiet trick: one sea lane, two continents, and a very clear sense that the journey had changed shape.
Tanger Med: Back in Morocco, Please Explain Georgia
Tanger Med brought us into Morocco with the usual mix of port order, customs procedure, and fascinated human curiosity. The officers saw the Georgian plates. Then came the questions.
"Georgia, the country?"
"You drove all the way?"
"From the Black Sea?"
There are faster ways to become interesting at a port, but most of them involve paperwork nobody wants. Our version was harmless: one American pickup, registered in Georgia, arriving in Morocco after crossing Europe. The port staff gathered around Shehzadi with the careful interest usually reserved for rare birds or suspiciously large luggage.
Formalities cleared, smiles exchanged, and the road opened again. The route from Tanger Med toward Tangier ran roughly west, carrying us from the port complex toward the city. The distance was short, and after the customs lane it felt good to have ordinary Moroccan road under Shehzadi's tires again.
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| Tangier, Morocco, our first overnight stop after entering Africa with Shehzadi |
Tangier: First Night Back in Morocco
We checked into our hotel outside the medina with dusty tires and a strange feeling of arrival. Tangier has always had a border-city energy. It faces Spain across the water, looks toward the Atlantic, and carries layers of Moroccan, Mediterranean, European, and Arab history in its streets.
Morocco was familiar territory, but the entrance was new. In 2023 we had come through Casablanca and taken the train to Marrakech, crossed the High Atlas to Ouarzazate, slept beside Erg Chebbi, climbed north through the Ziz Valley to Fes, wandered the maze of Fes el-Bali, and closed the loop in Casablanca. Two years later we returned from the opposite edge of the map: across the Strait of Gibraltar, through Tanger Med, with Shehzadi fresh off the ferry from Spain.
During check-in, we met a group of senior motorcyclists from several countries. They were in their 60s and 70s, with weathered jackets, bright eyes, and that calm road-life confidence that makes age look like a paperwork error. They had stories. We had stories. The parking lot briefly became a tiny United Nations of questionable life choices, which is the best kind.
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| Tangier, Morocco, where we met senior motorcyclists still happily ignoring the concept of slowing down |
Tangier felt like the right first stop on this return to Morocco. It has long been a meeting point for traders, sailors, writers, diplomats, smugglers, and anyone else who looked at a strait between continents and thought, "This seems useful." It still has that edge-of-world charge, only now with better roads and more hotel Wi-Fi.
Crossing the Strait moved the complete 2025 Silk Road/world-overland journey from its European leg into its North African phase. The road had carried Shehzadi west from the Black Sea; Algeciras and Tanger Med turned that line south and opened the Morocco loop that followed.
Next, we spend a full day in Tangier: Medina, Ibn Battuta Museum, Cape Spartel and Hercules Caves.
