The Portuguese-Spanish border through the centuries: In search of new solutions

The continent of Europe is characterized not only by its common culture and history, but also by its many borders. The colorful historical landscape inherited from the Middle Ages created European states in the 19th and 20th centuries, most of which still exist today, each with its own individual development. Few countries have such little changed borders over the centuries as that of Spain and Portugal - one of the oldest in Europe. In specialized and popular literature in Spain and Portugal, the term “Luso-Spanish border” has acquired citizenship, and for this reason, in this article, we will use this particular term to denote the Portuguese-Spanish border. The border between the two Iberian countries Spain and Portugal, also known over the centuries as La Raya, experienced many vicissitudes during different historical periods. It is about the Middle Ages, the Reconquista and the New Age, to get to the Modern and the new realities in modern Europe. Of course, things have not always looked this way, and in this part of the European continent passions have raged and there have been conflicts. While Spain has land borders with four neighboring countries (with five if we include the border with Gibraltar) 19 km with Morocco in North Africa, 63 with Andorra, 656 km with France and 1234 with Portugal, the latter has only one neighbor, which is Spain. And it shows. The role and significance of state borders are not unambiguous over time. In most of the past historical eras, they have been changed very often, and there are relatively few stretches of time during which wars were not fought, the result of which in most cases was a change in these borders, thereby also changing the extent of the national geographical space of one or more countries. In this sense, borders have been political barriers separating often warring countries. In the modern world, as a result of a long and painful development, in many cases they have already become axes of good neighborliness and cooperation. An example of fruitful cooperation is the state borders between European Union (EU) countries, which now have an almost symbolic meaning with the abolition of border control, customs checks and other functions performed between them until recently. Things are changing significantly, especially after the signing of the Schengen Agreement. People on both sides of the border hardly imagined that one day it could disappear. The border has always been there and it has been felt by the people. However, things have changed dramatically now. There are no guards, no barriers, there are roads, bridges and well-maintained highways. These are changes that occurred after the accession of Portugal and Spain to the Schengen area after 1991. Thus, borders acquire other functions, from dividing lines they become unifying ones. This inevitably leads to symbiosis and mutual penetration between two neighboring peoples. This is an example that can also be useful for the countries of the Balkan Peninsula, where the historical past has also left its mark. Already several Balkan countries are full members of the EU, these are Greece (1981), Slovenia (2004), Bulgaria (2007), Romania (2007) and Croatia (2013). Most of the countries of the “Western Balkans” are countries applying for EU membership. Balkan member countries of the Schengen area are Greece, Slovenia and Croatia. The full membership of the other Balkan countries in the EU and Schengen will contribute to the European integration and rethinking of the borders from both a historical and a current point of view.