The Minister of Territorial Policy and Spokeswoman for the Government, Isabel Rodríguez, stressed that “Spain and Portugal work intensively to make the ‘Iberian Line’ a territory of opportunities”. In this regard, and in compliance with the Common Strategy agreed in 2020, the Viana do Castelo Summit last November took concrete steps to deepen cooperation.
“The bulk of the measures that are promoted have as protagonists regions, autonomies or local entities, specifically, about thirty entities linked to local cooperation, many of them made up of municipalities on both sides of the Line that join this initiative today,” he added.
Isabel Rodríguez, who signed the founding document of the Spain-Portugal Cross-Border Cooperation Network (REDCOT), together with her Portuguese counterpart, the Minister of Territorial Cohesion, Ana Abrunhosa, stressed the importance of the local world: “I know the importance of local government for the implementation of transformative policies, the economic development of territories, achieving social cohesion and improving people’s lives.”
The Network that is being set up today will also be a model for cross-border cooperation in other areas, such as the prevention of violence against women and gender-based violence.
Along with the two ministers, the Spanish Secretary General for the Demographic Challenge, Francisco Boya, and the Portuguese Secretary of State for Regional Development, Isabel Ferreira, also took part in the event.