The Minister of National Defense of Portugal, Nuno Melodemanded this Friday that Spain hand over the inhabitants of Badajoz Olivencelocated near the border between the two countries and which has 12,000 inhabitants, emphasizing that it is a Portuguese commune “by treaty” and understands that it is a “just” right to demand this claim.
“Olivenza is Portuguese, of course, and this is not a provocation,” he told the media from Estremoz, in the municipality of Évora, according to the Portuguese agency Lusa.
The minister explained that according to the Treaty of Alcañicessigned by the Crown of Castile and the Kingdom of Portugal in 1297The Portuguese State does not recognise Olivenza as Spanish territory. Nuno Melo recalled that he had already defended this issue when he was a Member of the European Parliament and that he is therefore not willing to give up this claim.
For his part, the leader of the Socialist Party, Pedro Nuno Santosrejected the minister’s statements, which he described as “extremely serious” and having “an impact on foreign policy”, particularly on diplomatic relations with Spain. Thus, he demanded the Prime Minister’s responsibility, Luis Montenegro.
The mayor of Olivenza, Manuel José González Andrade (PSOE), said that the speeches that seek to “separate by borders, in the 21st century, have been more than forgotten and They belong to past centuries“. “They are trying to divide or fight each other by talking about territories without thinking about people,” he said. “I am convinced that the minister has more urgent and more important matters to deal with at the moment,” he added.
“Olivenza is fully satisfied and proud of its past and its history because this makes us unique and allows us to have a unique identity in the entire Iberian Peninsula,” he said.
The Oliventinos and their descendants can acquire Portuguese nationality and its road signs are in both languages.
In the mid-20th century, in Olivenza, the language heard in the streets was Portuguese, although this transmission link maintained for centuries was broken with the death of older generations, as is the case today. More than 1,500 Oliventinos speak Portuguesemainly the elderly, but also the youngest, who have benefited from measures aimed at promoting knowledge of the Portuguese language in the municipality.
A dispute rekindled
If you go back to 1999, the Portuguese ambassador to Spain, Antonio Martins da Cruzsaid that the Portuguese army’s claim to the border population of Olivenza “is an issue that has no diplomatic relevance”, after some voices in the Portuguese army stressed that Spain should have returned this population.
Three years later (2002), the then social democratic leader Jose Manuel Durao Barroso He said that the issue of Olivenza’s sovereignty should not hinder the excellent relations between Spain and Portugal. “We must be objective, realistic and pragmatic. Today, this issue is not a priority in any way,” he said.
However, that same year, the former colonel of the Portuguese army staff, Américo José Guimaráes Fernandesdeclared in Badajoz that Olivenza was “an integral part of Portuguese territory”, while specifying that the final say on this issue should belong to the inhabitants of Olivenza.
However, the colonel and historian clarified that the current relations between the two countries “are brothers” and stressed that the influence of Portugal in the history of Spain has been as great as that of the Hispanic country on the Portuguese, while insisting that Portugal “has never been a threat to the integrity of Spain”.
A year later, the issue became international when it was revealed that the Central Intelligence Agency (INC.) The American included the question of Olivenza’s sovereignty in his files on Portugal and Spain.
“This was said by the CIA,” the mayor said, “a very prestigious organization but, in my opinion, a little rigorous and a little distracted, and which almost forced us to inaugurate the Fair in camouflage uniforms,” the mayor said. Ramon Rocha at the opening of a bullfighting event.
On the same issue, the Portuguese Minister of Foreign Affairs, Antonio Martins da Cruz, said that The Olivenza file is frozen, it must not be reopened “and is not on the political agenda” with the neighboring country.
The minister, in statements broadcast by Portuguese media, rejected the possibility of undertaking any diplomatic diligence and said that “we must act with caution in matters that could jeopardize relations with one of Portugal’s largest economic partners.”
“The problem of Olivenza – said the Portuguese minister – is frozen since the Treaty of Vienna, 1815“, which Spain did not accept, and Martins da Cruz only admitted that the dispute could be resolved between the two nations at another time.
In 2004, the former Spanish ambassador Maxime Cajal presented his book ‘Ceuta and Melilla, Olivenza and Gibraltar. Where does Spain stop?’, in which he discusses the need for Spain to openly acknowledge the existence of a problem with Portugal because of Olivenza.
As he explained, Olivenza is Spanish, “if only for geographical reasons,” but he said it would be good for Spain to become aware of this and look for a formula to alleviate this discomfort, because “admitting the existence of the problem would be tantamount to denoting a certain sensitivity.”
