Portugal and Spain meet this Wednesday at the 35th Iberian Summit to sign a dozen agreements, with emphasis on the area of ​​water, and certify good bilateral relations at a time when they have governments of different colors.

The Portuguese Prime Minister, the conservative Luís Montenegro, makes his debut as host of a Portuguese-Spanish summit and meets in Faro, at 9:15 a.m., with his Spanish counterpart, the socialist Pedro Sánchez.

Montenegro and Sánchez are received with military honors at the Fialho Palace and, after the traditional “family photo”, they head to the Faro City Hall to receive the keys to the city, followed by a meeting for two at the Municipal Museum.

HE The Portuguese delegation for this summit is made up of 12 ministers and the Spanish one 11 and, parallel to the meeting between the two prime ministers, 13 bilateral meetings are plannedaccording to the most updated version of the program.

At 11:15 a.m. the plenary session of the summit will take place, with the presence of the two heads of Government and all the ministers, which will be followed, at 1:00 p.m., by the signing of agreements and a joint press conference by Luís Montenegro and Pedro Sánchez.

The summit ends with a lunch between both delegations, but Montenegro and Sánchez will still attend, at 4:00 p.m., the closing of a business forum at the University of the Algarve, organized by business confederations from both countries.

The central theme of the summit is “Water, a common good” and the signing of agreements regarding the flows of the Tagus and Guadiana rivers has already been announced.as well as to pay for the water collected by Spanish farmers in Alqueva.

The Alqueva agreement will also allow progress in the Portuguese project to capture water in the Pomarão area (Beja), to supply the Algarve, which affects international waters, according to the Government of Lisbon.

Luís Montenegro guaranteed last weekend that These agreements are historical and official sources of the Spanish Government confirmed on Tuesday that are probably the “most important” understandings in this area reached by Portugal and Spain in the last 25 yearssince the Albufeira Convention is in force, the bilateral treaty that regulates the management of rivers shared by the two countries.

In addition to rivers, but always in the field of water, progress is expected, according to the Portuguese Prime Minister’s cabinet, in “fishing, navigation safety or the conservation of natural heritage” and also the launch of the Prize Magalhães-Elcano, already announced in previous summits that marked the 500th anniversary of the first circumnavigation.

“Portugal and Spain are committed to the shared management of water resources at a bilateral level, but also determined to join forces to build the European Water Agendawithin the framework of the European Strategy for Water Resilience,” added the same source from the Portuguese executive.

The formalization of agreements for the Construction of the international bridges Nisa-Cedilho (Sever River) and Alcoutim-Sanlúcar de Guadiana (Guadiana)that will have European financing and that have been repeatedly announced in successive summits between both countries.

Spanish Government sources said this Tuesday that the final declaration of the summit was still being negotiated, but added that between nine and 11 agreements should be signed in Faro this Wednesday.

This summit was announced in April, during Luis Montenegro’s first official visit as President of the Government to Spain, a few weeks after taking office.

“There are no partisan differences that could put in crisis even a second or a millimeter the relationship that we have deepened for centuries for the benefit of people,” Luís Montenegro said then, at a press conference in Madrid with Pedro Sánchez.

“Today’s news is that our good bilateral relations will continue to strengthen. Our governments will continue to work for the benefit of the Portuguese and Spanish.“said, in turn, Pedro Sánchez.

Portugal and Spain explore common opportunities in the space economy and industry

Portugal and Spain will also explore common opportunities in the space economy and industry, with an economic forum and the launch of an Iberian satellite network association.

Shortly after the summit, which will take place in Faro and will have water as its central theme, the heads of Government of Portugal and Spain, Luís Montenegro and Pedro Sánchez, will close the Luso-Spanish Business Forum, co-organized by the CIP and the La largest Spanish business confederation, CEOE, at the University of the Algarve.

The meeting, which will have the participation of companies from both countries, Topics will be discussed such as the Iberian challenges and the competitiveness of the European Union, the priorities of technological and industrial cooperation between both countries, the single energy market, the opportunities in Latin America and Africa and the positioning of Portugal and Spain in the context of international trade.

Other highlighted topics will be reindustrialization and the defense industry, with the participation of the Minister of Economy of Portugal, Pedro Reis, and the Minister of Industry and Tourism of Spain, Jordi Hereu.

According to the Portuguese Government, The Iberian Space Agreement will be signed on Thursday —already announced in September— between the Portuguese operator of Earth observation satellites (GEOSAT), with operations in Portugal and Spain, the Engineering and Development Center, and the Spanish company SATLANTIS, specialized in the manufacture of cameras for satellites.

The objective will be launch of a satellite precursor to the Atlantic Constellation in 2024 and the development of new joint projects, and the Portuguese Prime Minister’s cabinet highlighted that also in this area “a new space of opportunities” opens up for the bilateral relationship.

This Iberian association aims to develop a satellite network that will allow monitoring forests and coastal areas and evaluating the impact of natural disasters on the Iberian Peninsula.