Pedro Sánchez underlines that Spain and Portugal have further stepped up their relations in line with their national recovery plans

Pedro Sánchez underlined that "We have the same vision on what the recovery should be - green, digital, cohesive and guaranteeing equality, and there are a host of areas in which we can guarantee better results if we work in a coordinated fashion".

Spain is Portugal's leading economic and trading partner, with which it shares such priority issues as finance and migration, the Ibero-American agenda, the energy transition and the decarbonisation of the economy. Relations between the two countries were strengthened in the first few months of the pandemic through "exemplary collaboration", as evidenced at the event to lift the border controls between Spain and Portugal on 1 July.

Negotiations on the European Recovery Fund provided further evidence of the shared agenda of the two countries, and hence the respective governments opted to implement coordinated action "towards a more united and stronger Europe", committing to a feminist, ecological, social and profoundly multilateral international agenda. To this end, Spain and Portugal opted to work to identify strategic joint projects in such areas as developing 5G, digitalisation, hydrogen and batteries, which could be included in the recovery plans of the two countries and receive financing under the European Fund. They also addressed the development of common infrastructures, such as railways and highways.

"There are other important debates on which we can greatly contribute together, such as the implementation of this Fund, the new Migration and Asylum Pact, the EU's social agenda and relations with its Southern Neighbourhood, with Africa and with Ibero-America", specified Pedro Sánchez. The President of the Government expressed his conviction that the Portuguese Presidency of the EU, which will begin in January 2021, "with Spain's full support", will contribute to achieving many of the issues raised at the meeting.

The Summit, presided over by Pedro Sánchez and António Costa, was also attended by the First Vice-President of the Government and Minister for the Presidency, Parliamentary Relations and Historical Memory, the Second Vice-President of the Government and Minister for Social Rights and 2030 Agenda, the Third Vice-President of the Government and Minister for Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation, the Fourth Vice-President of the Government and Minister for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, the Minister for Home Affairs, the Minister for Industry, Trade and Tourism, the Minister for Mobility, Transport and Urban Agenda, the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, and the Minister for Territorial Policy and Public Function, and their Portuguese counterparts.

Cross-border relations

The day will end with the presentation of a linguistic and cultural study by the First Vice-President of the Government and Minister for the Presidency, Parliamentary Relations and Historical Memory, Carmen Calvo, and of a cross-border collaboration study, which will be outlined by the Minister for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, Teresa Ribera.

Carmen Calvo will outline, together with her Portuguese counterpart, "The international projection of Spanish and Portuguese: the potential of linguistic proximity", as part of the activities of the 5th centenary of the first Magallanes-Elcano round-the-world trip. The project, developed by the Cervantes Institute and the Camões Institute, studies, on a joint basis for the first time, a shared Portuguese-speaking and Spanish-speaking linguistic and cultural space.

The results of the research show that, when combined, the Spanish and Portuguese languages are now close to the global linguistic leadership of English in almost all of the parameters considered. The two languages thus have unique conditions to expand their capacity for mutual comprehension, something that is essential for enhancing the social cohesion of Spanish-Portuguese communities around the world.

Teresa Ribera, together with her Portuguese counterpart, presented the details of the Common Cross-Border Development Strategy between Spain and Portugal - a key document for quickly and effectively structuring the Spanish Recovery Plan and channelling investments towards a shared cross-border area. The text established five strategic goals: guaranteeing equal opportunities on both sides of the border, ensuring the right provision of basic services by harnessing resources, facilitating cross-border interaction, fostering the development of new economic activities and business initiatives and encouraging the establishment of people in cross-border areas particularly affected by rural depopulation.

To this end, the President of the Government highlighted that the Strategy raises cross-border relations "to a higher level", and "ratifies the strong commitment of our governments to fight rural depopulation and the demographic challenge, and to cohesion and equality between regions".

The Summit will end with the signing of a joint Declaration that once again underscores the excellent state of relations between the two countries, and which outlines in detail the cooperation in all areas addressed at bilateral sector meetings.

Non official translation