The shipping company DFDS has activated a new edition of its promotional campaign Marhaba with a 20% discount on round-trip tickets between Algeciras and Tanger Med, aiming to anticipate reservations for the 2026 Operation Crossing the Strait (OPE). The promotion, which applies by entering the code MARHABA during the booking process, is available from May 7 to May 14 and covers trips made between July 1 and September 30, 2026. The discount includes vehicle transport, regardless of its size, and applies to round-trip tickets.
The commercial initiative is primarily aimed at families of Maghreb origin living in Europe who return to their home countries each summer through the Strait ports, as part of an operation that mobilizes millions of people between both continents. DFDS, which operates as the world's largest ferry operator, offers up to 16 daily departures on the Algeciras-Tanger Med route with a crossing time of approximately an hour and a half, in addition to at least ten daily frequencies on the Algeciras-Ceuta connection. The shipping company transports annually more than 1.3 million passengers, 280,000 vehicles, and over 125,000 cargo units, making it a key operator in the connectivity between Europe and North Africa. On the Algeciras-Tanger Med route, the company operates ferries El Kattegat and Tanger Express, both with a capacity of up to 1,000 passengers and 340 cars.
The anticipation of reservations responds to the experience accumulated in previous editions and, in particular, to the records of the OPE 2025, which concluded with historic figures. The operation broke all previous records by reaching 3,488,884 passengers distributed across 857,784 vehicles, an increase of 3% compared to the previous year and the highest ever since the operation began in 1986. The Port of Algeciras had the highest influx, with 977,821 passengers embarked towards the African continent, while Tanger Med recorded 736,824 returns to European territory.
The General Directorate of Civil Protection and Emergencies of the Ministry of the Interior, which has coordinated the OPE since 1986, recommends travelers to plan their trips in advance and purchase fixed tickets to facilitate fleet management by shipping companies, especially during the peak dates in both the outgoing and return phases.