Context : The Magellanic Bridge is a tidal feature located between both Magellanic Clouds , containing young stars formed in situ . Its proximity allows high-resolution studies of molecular gas , dust and star formation in a tidal , low metallicity environment . Aims : Our goal is to characterize gas and dust emission in Magellanic Bridge A , the source with the highest 870 \mu m excess of emission found in single dish surveys . Methods : Using the ALMA telescope including the Morita Array , we mapped with sub-parsec resolution a 3′ field of view centered on the Magellanic Bridge A molecular cloud , in 1.3 mm continuum emission and \@element [ ] [ 12 ] [ ] [ ] { \mathrm { CO } } ( 2 - 1 ) line emission . This region was also mapped in continuum at 870 \mu m and in \@element [ ] [ 12 ] [ ] [ ] { \mathrm { CO } } ( 2 - 1 ) line emission at \sim 6 pc resolution with the APEX telescope . To study its dust properties , we also use archival Herschel and Spitzer data . We combine the ALMA and APEX \@element [ ] [ 12 ] [ ] [ ] { \mathrm { CO } } ( 2 - 1 ) line cubes to study the molecular gas emission . Results : Magallanic Bridge A breaks up into two distinct molecular clouds in dust and \@element [ ] [ 12 ] [ ] [ ] { \mathrm { CO } } ( 2 - 1 ) emission , which we call North and South . Dust emission in the North source , according to our best parameters from fitting the far-infrarred fluxes , is \approx 3 K colder than in the South source in correspondence to its less developed star formation . Both dust sources present large submillimeter excesses in LABOCA data : according to our best fits the excess over the modified blackbody ( MBB ) fit to the Spitzer/Herschel continuum is E ( 870 \mu m ) \sim 7 and E ( 870 \mu m ) \sim 3 for the North and South sources respectively . Nonetheless , we do not detect the corresponding 1.3 mm continuum with ALMA . Our limits are compatible with the extrapolation of the MBB fits and therefore we can not independently confirm the excess at this longer wavelength . The \@element [ ] [ 12 ] [ ] [ ] { \mathrm { CO } } ( 2 - 1 ) emission is concentrated in two parsec-sized clouds with virial masses around 400 and 700 M _ { \sun } each . Their bulk volume densities are n ( H _ { 2 } ) \sim 0.7 - 2.6 \times 10 ^ { 3 } cm ^ { -3 } , larger than typical bulk densities of Galactic molecular clouds . The \@element [ ] [ 12 ] [ ] [ ] { \mathrm { CO } } luminosity to H _ { 2 } mass conversion factor \alpha _ { CO } is 6.5 and 15.3 M _ { \sun } ( K km s ^ { -1 } pc ^ { 2 } ) ^ { -1 } for the North and South clouds , calculated using their respective virial masses and \@element [ ] [ 12 ] [ ] [ ] { \mathrm { CO } } ( 2 - 1 ) luminosities . Gas mass estimates from our MBB fits to dust emission yields masses M \sim 1.3 \times 10 ^ { 3 } M _ { \sun } and 2.9 \times 10 ^ { 3 } M _ { \sun } for North and South respectively , a factor of \sim 4 larger than the virial masses we infer from \@element [ ] [ 12 ] [ ] [ ] { \mathrm { CO } } . Conclusions :