The unequal impact of railway policies in a cross-border region. The case of the Euroregion Galicia-Norte de Portugal

Abstract

Galicia and the North of Portugal form a common space inside the Iberian Peninsula. In spite of belonging to two different states, there are many similarities between these two regions, such as cultural, landscape or linguistic, where the political border seems not to exist. The entry of both Spain and Portugal into the old EEC (European Economic Community) in 1986 and with the theoretical free movement of goods and persons, marked a considerable increase in internal relations. This last issue was reinforced by the construction of new infrastructures, especially roadways, which facilitated the displacement of travel times. Despite the increase in internal relations for 30 years and high levels of cross-border mobility, there is still a large deficit in the supply of public transport, especially rail. Despite the great internal synergies, the different rail policies of Portugal and Spain during the last decades had an unequal impact on the territory and with little incidence for the integration of the present space that today forms the Euroregion.