Portugal and Spain reach agreement on water and energy

The Portuguese Minister of Environment and Energy Maria da Graça Carvalho and the Spanish Minister of Green Transition and Demographic Challenge Teresa Ribera set the guidelines to solve several issues on water, which had been pending for years, and energy.

At a meeting held in the Ministry of Environment and Energy in Lisbon, the two Ministers agreed on the start of a decision on specific situations in the water sector, such as taking water in Pomarão in Mértola, and managing ecological water flows in the Tagus.

According to Maria da Graça Carvalho, "in general terms, this understanding, in the case of Pomarão, represents the principle of equity in the volumes of water captured on both sides of the border". "As for the Tagus ecological water flows, the basis we are working on is protecting the Tagus ecosystems, striving to find a constant equilibrium that will allow us to stop the so-called saline intrusion from increasing", said the Portuguese Minister, stressing that "both cases include technical solutions that are still being discussed by the relevant authorities in both countries – the Portuguese Environment Agency and the Spanish Direccíon General de Aguas". 

It is expected that an agreement will come out of the next meeting between the two Ministers on 26 September in Madrid. On the day before, the 25th, both countries will be at the celebration of the 25 years of the Albufeira Convention in Aranjuez. 

Energy was another issue on the table at today’s meeting, the third one between the two Ministers since the Portuguese Government took office. 

Consensus was reached on setting up a joint working group whose mission is to apply the new European Electricity Market rules to the Iberian market.  Portugal and Spain will also work together in contacting France and the European institutions so that the electricity and hydrogen interconnections are also a European issue, rather than just relating to the Iberian Peninsula.

At a time of great importance in protecting biodiversity, the two Ministers noted the fact that the Iberian lynx was recently taken down from the list of endangered species, due to the cooperation between Portugal and Spain. Given the recent approval of the Natural Restoration Law by the European Council, Maria da Graça Carvalho announced there will be common dialogue in building the natural restoration plans for both countries.