Chokepoint · Spain and Morocco

Strait of Gibraltar

OpenUpdated October 1, 2026

The Strait of Gibraltar is the passage between Spain and Morocco that joins the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea. It is about 14 km wide at its narrowest and 58 km long. It is the Mediterranean's only natural link to the open ocean. The Rock of Gibraltar, a British territory, stands at its eastern end.

Ship counts from IMF PortWatch

The strait from the Space Shuttle, 1994. NASA, public domain.

Width at the narrowest: 14 km; 7.8 nautical miles
Length: 58 km; 300 to 900 m deep
Ships in 2025: 80,238; all ships in the traffic lanes, Spain's count
Cargo ships a day: 133; Last four weeks; 146 a day in 2023
Shores: Spain Morocco Gibraltar (UK)

Where is the Strait of Gibraltar?

The Strait of Gibraltar lies between the southern tip of Spain and northern Morocco, joining the Atlantic to the Mediterranean. At its narrowest, between Punta de Oliveros in Spain and Punta Cires in Morocco, it is about 14 km wide. It is 58 km long and 300 to 900 meters deep. The Rock of Gibraltar, a British territory, stands at its eastern end. Ceuta, a Spanish city on the African coast, is claimed by Morocco.

Map of the Strait of Gibraltar between Spain and Morocco, with Tarifa, Gibraltar, Ceuta and the 14 km gap at the narrowest point — Shipping lanes

How busy is the Strait of Gibraltar?

About 300 vessels cross the strait every day, according to NASA. That count includes ferries, fishing boats and yachts. Spain's maritime rescue service counted 80,238 ships through the traffic lanes in 2025, about 220 a day. In the four weeks to September 27, IMF PortWatch counted about 133 cargo ships and tankers a day, against 146 in 2023. Traffic is a little below 2023 because some shipping lines still sail between Asia and Europe around Africa instead of through the Suez Canal. In September 2026, Maersk, Hapag-Lloyd and COSCO started moving services back to Suez. Tanger Med, on the Moroccan side, is the largest container port in the Mediterranean. It handled the equivalent of 11.1 million twenty-foot containers in 2025.

Ships through the strait each day

Weekly average, January 2023 to September 2026

2023 average, 146 a dayIMF PortWatch counts cargo ships and tankers from ship tracking data. Ships with their transponders off are not counted.

Who controls the Strait of Gibraltar?

Spain and Morocco control the strait. It is narrower than two 12-nautical-mile territorial seas combined, so almost all of it is their water. Ships and aircraft have the right of transit passage under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. That right may not be suspended. Spain and Morocco run the traffic scheme. Eastbound ships use the southern lane on the Moroccan side, and westbound ships the northern lane. On March 2, 2026, Spain refused to let the United States use its bases at Rota and Morón for the war with Iran. On March 30, Spain closed its airspace to US aircraft involved. US bombers flew through the strait under transit passage, which Spain cannot block.

Across the strait at its narrowest

SPAIN Spanish watersWestbound Moroccan watersEastbound MOROCCO

About 14 km, 7.8 nautical miles

Not to scale. The dashed line is the median line between the two coasts.

Why does Britain hold Gibraltar?

An Anglo-Dutch fleet captured Gibraltar from Spain in August 1704. Spain gave it to Britain in the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 and has asked for it back ever since. In a 2002 referendum, 98.97% of Gibraltar's voters rejected sharing sovereignty with Spain. Gibraltar is 6.8 km² and had 37,936 people in 2022. On July 15, 2026, a UK and EU treaty removed the border fence and checks between Gibraltar and Spain, leaving sovereignty untouched.

Who has held the Rock

Moorish rule

Spain

Britain

711 1462 17042026

Why do Russian warships sail through the Strait of Gibraltar?

Since Turkey closed the Bosphorus to Russian warships in February 2022, Russia cannot send Black Sea Fleet ships to the Mediterranean. Russian ships sail from the Baltic and the north through the strait instead. A Gibraltar ship-spotter, Michael Sánchez, counted 299 Russian vessels through the strait in 2025, 43 of them warships. In January and March 2026, British patrol boats tracked two Russian "shadow fleet" tankers through the strait. French forces boarded them in the western Mediterranean. On August 27, 2026, the Russian destroyer Admiral Levchenko escorted the sanctioned cargo ship Sparta and tanker General Skobelev east through the strait. The ships switched off their transponders around the strait. The convoy reached Tartus in Syria in early September and was sailing back west by September 23. On September 8 and 9, the Spanish patrol boat Tagomago followed a Russian Baltic Fleet landing ship escorting two cargo ships through the strait.

The strait over the years

711Tariq ibn Ziyad lands at the Rock with about 7,000 men. Its Arabic name, Jabal Tariq, became Gibraltar.
1704An Anglo-Dutch fleet under Admiral George Rooke captures Gibraltar in August.
1779–83Spain and France besiege the Rock for three years and seven months and fail.
1942General Eisenhower directs the Allied landings in North Africa from a tunnel inside the Rock.
1969Franco's Spain closes the land border with Gibraltar in June. It fully reopens only in February 1985.
2026A UK and EU treaty removes the border fence and checks on July 15, leaving sovereignty untouched.

Other chokepoints

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Disrupted Bosphorus Russian and Ukrainian strikes on Black Sea shipping. 52 ships a day, against 97 in 2023.

Disrupted Suez Canal Traffic is recovering but still well below 2023. 40 ships a day, against 74 in 2023.

Open Strait of Malacca Fewer tankers since Hormuz closed. 220 ships a day, against 220 in 2023.