At a meeting in Madrid on Tuesday, Portugal and Spain have decided to strengthen technical coordination in the modernisation of a series of rail links that are of "enormous importance."
"Our first decision was that we will hold working meetings between our technical teams," said the Portuguese minister for Planning and Infrastructures, Pedro Marques, at a press conference alongside the Spanish Minister of Development, Ínigo de la Serna.
Portugal currently has three international projects that involve Spain: the Aveiro-Vilar Formoso-Salamanca link – the so-called ‘north corridor’ - the Sines-Caia-Madrid link, or ‘south corridor’ and the Oporto-Valença-Vigo link.
"We have important investments on both sides of the border which must progress and are doing so in a coordinated way," said Pedro Marques.
For Lisbon, these connections are of "enormous importance", especially the north and south corridors which will connect the Portuguese ports of Leixões, Aveiro, Setúbal and Sines to the Spanish border and the rest of Europe.
"We are running an investment plan of more than €2 billion," said Pedro Marques.
