The Guadiana Eurocity project that links Vila Real de Santo António and Castro Marim on the Portuguese side of the Guadiana river, with Ayamonte on the Spanish side, is launching a Eurocidadão Card to enable residents of any of the municipalities to share cultural and sporting facilities and to take advantage of each others' health services, at a discount.
The launch of the card was marked today by the delivery of the first copies of the card documentation to the mayors of the three municipalities of the Guadiana Eurocidade scheme.
According to Luís Gomes, the mayor of Vila Real de Santo António, “sharing common facilities such as swimming pools, libraries and other cultural and sporting venues are some of the advantages offered by the card which will be issued at no cost to anyone resident in the municipalities of VRSA, Castro Marim and Ayamonte that requests one."
Other benefits of the card will be to provide Eurocidadão card holders with access to health products at lower prices, a bonus for the Portuguese where the cost of many drugs and medical supplies is often prohibitive.
Further commercial partnerships currently are being studied and a directory of health services will be released soon where customers can get 10% discounts.
"In an innovative way we have formalised relationships that have always existed between Portugal and Spain on the border, and are taking advantage of the benefits of economies of scale and enjoying the benefits of European cooperation,” said Luís Gomes.
The mayors are now working on a transport system to link the council areas on both sides of the river so as to increase accessibility.
The Eurocidade Guadiana accord was established in January 2013 by Ayamonte and VRSA, but in May that year the council of Castro Marim joined in.
The sharing of equipment, the creation of a joint tourism brand, the launch of a radio station and joint events on both sides of the border are some of the key objectives.
This Eurocidadão card already exists in another Eurocity area between Chaves in the north of Portugal and Verin in Spain, allowing citizens on both sides of the border to enjoy the advantages of both councils in different countries.
