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Spain, Portugal to intensify bilateral cooperation

Xinhua, June 23, 2015 Adjust font size:

Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and his Portuguese counterpart Pedro Passos Coelho met on Monday at the 28th Spanish-Portuguese summit where they agreed to intensify cooperation between the two countries in several areas.

The summit, which was held in the northwestern town of Baiona, was also attended by the ministers of Foreign Affairs, Interior, Defense, Industry, Public Works and Employment along with the secretaries of state for Tourism.

Both countries discussed several issues, having as a background the 30th anniversary of the accession of Spain and Portugal to the European Union. They highlighted their common goals that both countries have been defending together within the European institutions.

Within the summit, they discussed cooperation in areas such as tourism, employment, education, environment and fight against terrorism and international crime, among others.

They emphasized that "in 2014 economic recovery was consolidated in both countries with positive growth rates", reiterating their commitment to continue with the reforms as the "only way" to achieve a sustainable growth, increase job creation and assure prosperity for citizens.

They pointed out that those reforms at national level should be reinforced by other measures at a European level, highlighting that predictions by the European Commission and other international bodies announced the end of the crisis for both countries.

They signed a plan to promote tourism between the borders especially in those areas with fortifications in order to foster their heritage as tourism is one of the main sectors for both countries' economic growth.

They also agreed to continue cooperating to fight terrorism and criminal activities, as well as combat illegal immigration and fire in the forest, which seriously affects the borders between these two countries.

Rajoy and Passos Coelho will travel this afternoon to Brussels, where the future of Greece will be discussed.

The previous Spanish-Portuguese summit was held in Vidago, Portugal, on June 4, 2014. Endit