The governments of Portugal and Spain welcomed today, in a joint statement, the entry into force of the new treaty, which replaces the first signed between Lisbon and Madrid, in 1977, when Mário Soares and Adolfo Suaréz led the Iberian executives.

The Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation"affirms the shared values and updates the instruments of cooperation in the most varied areas, both bilateral, including privileged cross-border relations".

For the governments of Lisbon and Madrid, the previous treaty, from 1977, played "a fundamental role in the parallel development of Spain and Portugal as democracies", in an "essential moment of democratic transition" in both countries, having contributed to the development of relations whether political, commercial or cultural.

Lisbon and Madrid justify the need for a new treaty because during the 40 years that the 1977 treaty was in force, Spain and Portugal became consolidated democracies, became members of the European Union, are allies in NATO (with the entry of Spain in this Defense alliance between European and North American countries of which Portugal was already a member) and are partners in the Ibero-American community.

The new treaty thus reflects the evolution of the relationship between Portugal and Spain, "its growing density and depth" and "its strategic and multidimensional character", according to the statement.

The Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation was signed on October 28, 2021 at the Iberian summit in Trujillo, in Spanish Extremadura, by Prime Ministers António Costa and Pedro Sánchez.

On that day, the leader of the Portuguese Government, António Costa, underlined the political and geostrategic dimension “of the greatest importance” of the treaty.

“This treaty modernizes our relations”, said António Costa, adding that the new agreement takes into account current aspects of international relations, such as the energy and digital transition and the strengthening of cooperation within the scope of NATO and the European Union, among others.

The Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, also highlighted that day the need to modernize a text that was already 40 years old and adapt the treaty to a cooperation that has evolved and that is now “richer and more intense”.