Madrid, Oct 20 (EFE).- Spain and Portugal intend to show at the 35th bilateral summit that they will hold next Wednesday in Faro, in the Portuguese region of the Algarve, that the good relationship between both countries is proof of the changes that may occur. to be at the head of their respective governments.
Each of the two countries alternates in organizing these summits, and the last one held so far took place last year on the Canary island of Lanzarote, so it was up to Portugal this year to act as host.
The Faro meeting will be chaired by the head of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, and the Portuguese Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, who will coincide at the head of their respective delegations for the first time in a meeting of these characteristics.
Since 2018, the five summits that have been held have been headed by Sánchez and António Costa, both belonging to the socialist family, but the elections in Portugal on March 11 led to the formation of a government chaired by Montenegro, leader of the center-right Democratic Alliance coalition.
This is not an obstacle, as Government sources underline to EFE, to continue maintaining extraordinary relations and to deepen the alliance between both countries in order to defend common interests within the European Union.
Sánchez and Montenegro will be at the head of delegations with a large number of ministers from both sides and whose list will be made official this week.
The Foreign Ministers, the Spanish José Manuel Albares and the Portuguese Paulo Rangel, will be part of it, who will meet in Madrid this Monday together with the Ministers of Defense, Margarita Robles and Nuno Melo, to deepen their coordination regarding the international situation and specific issues such as the conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine.
The political evolution in the Sahel, Security and Defense Policy in Africa, maritime security and development cooperation will be other aspects that will be addressed.
The confirmation that an excellent bilateral relationship is maintained is indicated by the Spanish Government and will be manifested in the signing of a series of agreements.
Among them, one on water management that the Portuguese Prime Minister has described as historic.
It was on September 27 when the third vice president and minister for the Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, Teresa Ribera, and the Portuguese Minister of the Environment, Maria da Graça Carvalho, announced after a meeting in Aranjuez that Spain and Portugal had managed to close the pending points of the Albufeira Agreement on the 25th anniversary of its signing.
The ‘Agreement on Cooperation for the Protection and Sustainable Use of the Waters of the Hispano-Portuguese Hydrographic Basins’, better known as the Albufeira Agreement after the Portuguese city where it was signed on November 30, 1988, defines the use and administration of the water flow in the hydrographic basins that both countries share from north to south: Miño, Limia, Duero, Tajo and Guadiana.
What will be signed in Faro will be a regulatory framework to establish the necessary standards adapted to the current situation, defining the flows of the rivers at all times for the benefit of farmers and citizens on both sides of the border.
Railway infrastructures are also usually present at these summits.
Given what is going to be held on Wednesday, the Government of Extremadura has asked for a commitment to be made so that the works on the Madrid-Talavera-Extremadura-Lisbon high-speed train are completed in the year 2030.
Along the same lines, the plenary session of the Parliament of Andalusia has approved a PP initiative that shows support for acquiring a commitment to the development of a Faro-Huelva-Seville high-speed line.
Also in the field of infrastructure, last Tuesday the Government authorized the signing of an agreement for the construction of an international bridge over the Guadiana River, between the Spanish town of Sanlúcar de Guadiana (Huelva) and the Portuguese town of Alcoutim, in the Algarve.
At the summit there will be a meeting between Sánchez and Montenegro and other parallel sectoral meetings held by the ministers participating in it.
The two heads of Government have already met at various international meetings, they met in Madrid on April 15 and ratified their desire to maintain the good bilateral relationship and defend common interests abroad.
Both will address these relations in various areas, as well as the international geopolitical situation and issues on the European agenda, including the debate that took place this week at the European Council meeting on the migration problem and the approach of the Commission and some partners of create deportation centers outside the EU. EFE