Portugal–Spain border

The Portugal–Spain border, also referred to as "The Stripe" (Spanish: La Raya, Portuguese: A Raia, Galician: A Raia, Mirandese: La Raia), is one of the oldest geopolitical borders in the world. The current demarcation is almost identical to that defined in 1297 by the Treaty of Alcañices. The Portugal–Spain border is 1,214 km (754 mi) long, and is the longest uninterrupted border within the European Union, being free of border control since March 26, 1995 (the effective date of the Schengen Agreement), with a few temporary exceptions. The border is not defined for 18 km (11 mi) between the Caia river and Ribeira de Cuncos, because of the disputed status of Olivenza/Olivença, which has been disputed between the two countries for two hundred years.

Portugal–Spain border
Guadiana International Bridge, connecting Portugal and Spain
Characteristics
Entities	Portugal  Spain
Length	1214 km (de facto)
History
Established	1143 The victory of king Afonso I of Portugal over his cousin king Alfonso VII of León at the Battle of Valdevez, forced the Kingdom of León to recognise Portugal as a country, thus establishing the northern borders of Portugal.
Treaties	Treaty of Zamora (1143) Treaty of Badajoz (1267) Treaty of Alcañices (1297) Treaty of Badajoz (1801) Congress of Vienna (1815) Treaty of Lisbon (1864) Convention of Limits (1926)

A microstate existed previously on the border called Couto Misto.

Bordering districts and provinces

 

Sign when entering Portugal from Spain.

 

Sign when entering Spain from Portugal.

Districts on the Portuguese side of the border from North to South:

•   Viana do Castelo District (Northern Portugal)
•   Braga District (Northern Portugal)
•   Vila Real District (Northern Portugal)
•   Bragança District (Northern Portugal)
•   Guarda District (Central Portugal)
•   Castelo Branco District (Central Portugal)
•   Portalegre District (Alentejo)
•   Évora District (Alentejo)
•   Beja District (Alentejo)
•   Faro District (Algarve)

Provinces on the Spanish side of the border from North to South:

• Province of Pontevedra (  Galicia)
• Province of Ourense (  Galicia)
• Province of Zamora (  Castile and León)
• Province of Salamanca (  Castile and León)
• Province of Cáceres (  Extremadura)
• Province of Badajoz (  Extremadura)
• Province of Huelva (  Andalusia)

Customs and identity checks

Portugal and Spain signed the Schengen Agreement in June 1991. This came into effect on 26 March 1995, making Portugal and Spain part of the Schengen area, and thus their boundary became an open border.^[1]

Portugal has since reintroduced border checks several times along the border with Spain: during the UEFA Euro 2004 championships, during the NATO 2010 Lisbon summit, and during Pope Francis's visit to Fátima in May 2017.^[2]

On 16 March 2020, Portugal and Spain reintroduced border checks due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with most people unable to cross; cross-border workers and goods were allowed to pass.^[3] The checks were planned until 15 May 2020.^[4] They were initially extended until 15 June 2020 ^[5] and eventually until 1 July 2020.^[6]

On 29 January 2021, Portugal closed the border with Spain due to the COVID-19 pandemic; only people with exceptional reasons (force majeure) were able to cross. The planned closure was expected to last for fourteen days, but this was extended to 1 March.^[7][8] The closure was further lengthened to 16 March 2021, then again to 5 April 2021.^[9][10] It was extended again to 15 April 2021^[11] and then to 3 May 2021. This was eventually shortened to 1 May 2021.^[12][13]

Border crossing checkpoints

• Valença-Tui
• Vila Verde da Raia-Verín
• Quintanilha-San Vitero
• Vilar Formoso-Fuentes de Oñoro
• Termas de Monfortinho-Cilleros
• Marvão-Valencia de Alcántara
• Elvas-Badajoz
• Vila Verde de Ficalho-Rosal de la Frontera
• Vila Real de Santo António-Ayamonte

Maritime borders

Portugal's maritime border delimitation, also known as the Exclusive economic zone of Portugal has been disputed for a number of years by Spain, relatively to the Savage Islands area, between Madeira and the Canary Islands.

Important treaties

• Treaty of Zamora (1143) - The victory of king Afonso I of Portugal over his cousin king Alfonso VII of León at the Battle of Valdevez, forced the Kingdom of León to recognise Portugal as a country, thus establishing the northern borders of Portugal.
• Treaty of Badajoz (1267) - Signed by king Alfonso X of Castile and King Afonso III of Portugal, establishing the Guadiana as roughly the southern border.
• Treaty of Alcañices (1297) - Signed by King Denis of Portugal (grandson of king Alfonso X of Castile) and King Ferdinand IV of Castile, Olivença is ceded to Portugal.
• Treaty of Badajoz (1801) - Olivença is ceded to Spain.
• Congress of Vienna (1815) - Spain promises to return Olivença to Portugal, leaving this area of the border disputed ever since.
• Treaty of Lisbon (1864) - This abolished the Couto Misto microstate, partitioning it between Spain and Portugal.
• Convention of Limits (1926) - Demarcating the border from the confluence of Ribeira de Cuncos with the Guadiana, just south of Olivença, to the estuary of the Guadiana River, on the far South.

Border crossings

 

Vilar Formoso - Fuentes de Oñoro border crossing

The busiest crossing point between Portugal and Spain is Tui-Valença, with the main international bridge concentrating half of the total international road traffic between both countries.^[14][15] Other important crossings are Vilar Formoso - Fuentes de Oñoro, Caminha and Bragança to Galicia, Portalegre and Elvas to Badajoz, and Castro Marim and Vila Real de Santo António to Ayamonte.

Bridges across the border include the Guadiana International Bridge and the Lower Guadiana International bridge.

An international bridge connects the Portuguese village of Várzea Grande (Arronches municipality) with the Spanish village of El Marco (La Codosera municipality). It is a wooden bridge only 3.2 meters long.^[16]

A zipline across the border exists between Sanlucar de Guadiana in Spain and Alcoutim in Portugal; it is the first and currently only zip line over an international border.^[17][18]

References

1. "The Schengen area - PDF by EU" (PDF). Retrieved 28 April 2017.
2. "Portugal declares Papal holiday". Retrieved 28 April 2017.
3. "Coronavirus: What you need to know about Spain closing its borders". Retrieved 18 March 2020.
4. "Border with Spain to remain closed". Retrieved 18 April 2020.
5. "Land borders with Spain to remain closed until June 15". Retrieved 15 May 2020.
6. "Spain to open borders to EU, but Portugal remains off limits". Retrieved 15 June 2020.
7. "Portugal closes land border with Spain as virus cases soar". 28 January 2021. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
8. "Spain-Portugal border closure extended until March 1st". 9 February 2021. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
9. "Border with Spain closed until 16 March". Retrieved 26 February 2021.
10. "Land and river border control will continue until April 5th". Retrieved 15 March 2021.
11. "Portugal extends restrictions on Spanish border until April 15". Reuters. 4 April 2021. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
12. "Flight rules remain and land border with Spain remains closed". Retrieved 16 April 2021.
13. "Land borders with Spain reopen tomorrow". Retrieved 1 May 2021.
14. El cierre de la frontera del Miño entre Galicia y Portugal cuesta 300 euros al mes a cada trabajador. El Español.
15. A fronteira máis transitada reabre afastada dos focos e das prioridades de Madrid e Lisboa. praza.gal
16. "The World's Shortest International Bridge". Retrieved 2019-11-26.
17. "Spain becomes home to world's first-ever 'time-travelling' zipline". Retrieved 2020-03-29.
18. "Travel From Spain To Portugal In Less Than A Minute With This Zany Zip-Line". Retrieved 2020-03-29.