The Spanish-Portuguese Transboundary Waters Agreements:: Historic perspective

Spain and Portugal share a substantial part of their water resources: basins of the Mino, Limia, Duero, Tajo, and Guadiana Rivers. The 1964 and the 1968 Agreements are good examples of the cooperation possibilities between countries in this field. Given that these Agreements have been totally developed, that new questions have appeared on the international scene, and given the political, economic, and social evolution of both countries there is a need to reach a new agreement. Conversations were initiated in 1993 and concluded in 1998 with the signing of the Albufeira Convention. This agreement is based on the wealth of experience accumulated by both countries, and it establishes a framework for the exploitation and protection of water resources, acknowledging each country's right to manage the waters within its territory. The agreement, which is applied to all the basins, deals with situations derived from extreme phenomena, such as droughts and floods in the same way as the problems derived from accidental pollution incidents. Likewise, the cooperation organisms for the application and the development of the conventional framework are established in it.