RELATIONAL SECURITY AND IBERIAN INTERNAL SECURITY GOVERNANCE:

This article examines Portuguese–Spanish police cooperation in addressing transnational threats affecting the security of the Iberian Peninsula. Within an international context characterised by increasing geopolitical volatility and the progressive blurring of boundaries between internal and external security, it argues that Iberian security governance is becoming increasingly dependent on institutionalised, intelligence-led forms of cooperation structured across multiple levels of governance. Methodologically, the study adopts a qualitative policy-analytic approach, combining documentary analysis with theoretical triangulation, in order to examine the legal, institutional, and operational foundations of bilateral cooperation. The analysis focuses on three analytically defined categories of “existential threats” – jihadist terrorism, human trafficking, and cybercrime – selected on the basis of their systemic impact and transnational character. The findings point to significant progress in cross-border cooperation, particularly among gendarmerie-type forces, where organisational convergence has facilitated operational integration. Notwithstanding these advances, structural asymmetries persist, notably with regard to the limited integration of civilian police forces. The article advances the concept of relational security and proposes a conceptual framework for Iberian critical infrastructure resilience. It concludes that the effectiveness of Iberian security requires the transition from fragmented models towards a more integrated, coherent, intelligence-led, and police-diplomacy-oriented system of governance. Keywords: Iberian Peninsula; transnational security; police cooperation; relational security; multi-level governance.