Operación Paso del Estrecho: dates, peak days and tips

Operación Paso del Estrecho (OPE), Spain's summer Strait-crossing operation, is the scheme coordinated by Protección Civil, Spain's civil protection agency, for the summer journey between Europe and North Africa. In 2026 it ran from 15 June to 15 September, and the return phase was counted from 15 July. The 2025 and 2026 editions had the same dates.

The 2027 dates had not been announced in November 2026. If you want to receive them, sign up for our email alerts.

In Morocco, the equivalent scheme is the Marhaba operation, run by the Mohammed V Foundation for Solidarity: in 2026 it ran from 10 June to 15 September, with 26 reception points, among them the ports of Tanger Med, Tangier City, Al Hoceima and Nador and, in Spain, Motril, Almería and Algeciras.

In 2025, 3,488,885 people and 857,784 vehicles crossed on 10,536 ship rotations, according to Protección Civil.

In 2026, the return phase closed with 1,699,487 passengers and 413,462 vehicles, 3.9% and 2.5% fewer than the previous year. Almost half of the vehicles, 45.6%, returned on the Tanger Med – Algeciras route. The Tangier City – Tarifa route grew the most, with 18.2% more vehicles.

Algeciras takes the lion's share: in the first month of 2026, 357,590 passengers and 100,047 vehicles passed through its port.

Protección Civil recommends travelling with a dated (closed) ticket, with date and time, and buying it as far ahead as possible.

On the Moroccan side it is a condition: the dated ticket, already required in Tangier City, Tarifa, Nador and Ceuta, was extended in 2026 to Tanger Med and Algeciras in order to enter the port. Anyone arriving without a confirmed ticket has to change it with the ferry company first. More details in the guide to open or dated tickets.

We could not confirm the 2026 peak days in a public source. As a reference, in 2023 the authorities announced as critical the last weekend of July and 1 August for the outbound journey, and the last weekend of August and 1 September for the return.

In 2026 the Tanger Med port authority advised avoiding Saturdays, Sundays and the last week of August.

If you can choose, cross midweek and away from the mid-month and end-of-month changeovers.

On critical days, the authorities can activate interchangeability: your ticket is valid for boarding the first available ship, whichever company it belongs to. Protección Civil described it this way in 2018, and in August 2026 the press reported that it had been activated on the Algeciras – Tangier route.

It is neither automatic nor permanent: it is activated by decision of the authorities and only on certain routes.

Spain's traffic authority, the Dirección General de Tráfico, points out that during the operation the ferry terminals offer free medical and social assistance, toilets, shaded areas, interpreters and food at controlled prices. It recommends stopping every two or three hours.

Useful numbers: 112 for emergencies and 011 for traffic information. Spain's State Meteorological Agency publishes a specific forecast for the Strait during the operation.

If you are breaking the journey overnight, book your accommodation with time to spare: on peak days the areas near the ports fill up.