page_title: Portugal–Spain relations
section_title: Present
hierarchical_section_title: Portugal–Spain relations / Present
caption_attribution_description: Español: Banderas de España y Portugal.English: Flags of Spain and Portugal.
context_page_description: Portugal–Spain relations describes relations between the governments of the Portuguese Republic and the Kingdom of Spain. The two states make up the vast majority of the Iberian Peninsula and as such, the relationship between the two is sometimes known as Iberian relations.
  In recent years, both countries have enjoyed a much friendlier relationship. Together, the two countries are full-time members of the European Union, Eurozone, Schengen Area and NATO.
  Portugal and Spain had been rival sea powers as early as the 14th century. Portugal initially was in a position to explore the area facing the Atlantic and adjacent to the African coasts. In successfully doing so, it discovered that Africa has been the Arab world's major source of gold brought by camel caravans across the Sahara. This prompted Prince Henry to send expeditions farther south along the Africa coast. Bartolomeu Dias and his crew found themselves sailing in the eastern coast of Africa after a South Atlantic gale blew their ships around the southern tip of the African continent. This passage is now known as the Cape of Good Hope. An expedition headed by Vasco da Gama was sent on a diplomatic and trade mission to India.
context_section_description: Current relations between Spain and Portugal are outstandingly good. They cooperate in the fight against drug trafficking and forest fires (common in the Iberian Peninsula in summers), for example. These close relations are facilitated by similar governments; such as the conservative governments of José María Aznar and José Manuel Durão Barroso  and the social democratic governments of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and José Sócrates and between Pedro Sánchez and António Costa. Sócrates even claims that he has one of the best personal relations with Zapatero among international political relationships.
  In 1998, both countries signed the Albufeira Convention, an agreement on the sharing of trans-boundary rivers such as the Douro, Tagus and Guadiana. The convention superseded an original agreement on the Douro, signed in 1927, that was expanded in 1964 and 1968 to include tributaries. The Albufeira Convention governs the equitable use of water and environmental concerns.
  In 2009, the two countries submitted an unsuccessful joint bid to either host the 2018 or the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
  In 2020, Portugal Prime Minister Antonio Costa criticised the words of Dutch Finance Minister after he called for an investigation into Spain’s proclaimed lack of budgetary capacity to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic, describing them as "repugnant".
caption: Flags of Spain and Portugal at a friendly volleyball game between their national teams.
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