Treaty of Alcañices in the context of "Algarve"

The Portugal–Spain border, also referred to as "the Stripe", is one of the oldest geopolitical borders in the world. The current demarcation is almost identical to that defined in 1297 by the Treaty of Alcañices. The Portugal–Spain border is 1,234 km (767 mi) long, and is the longest uninterrupted border within the European Union, being free of border control since March 26, 1995 (the effective date of the Schengen Agreement), with a few temporary exceptions, such as in the 2020 lockdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Treaty of Limits between Portugal and Spain was signed in Lisbon in 1864 and ratified in Madrid in 1866, leaving unsettled a southern stretch because of the Olivenza and the Moura strifes. A 1926 Convention of Limits ratified the southern end of the border, incorporating a 1893 agreement concerning Moura, while the lands of Olivenza were left without demarcation because of Portuguese reluctance to recognise Spanish sovereignty over the territory.

Olivenza (Spanish: [oliˈβenθa] ) or Olivença (Portuguese: [oliˈvẽsɐ] ) is a town in southwestern Spain, close to the Portugal–Spain border. It is a municipality belonging to the province of Badajoz, and to the wider autonomous community of Extremadura.

The town of Olivença was under Portuguese sovereignty from 1297 (Treaty of Alcañices) to 1801, when it was occupied by Spain during the War of the Oranges and ceded that year under the Treaty of Badajoz. Spain has since administered the territory (now split into two municipalities, Olivenza and Táliga), whereas Portugal invokes the self-revocation of the Treaty of Badajoz, plus the Congress of Vienna of 1815, to claim the return of the territory. In spite of the territorial dispute between Portugal and Spain, the issue has not been a sensitive matter in the relations between these two countries.

Alcañices (Portuguese: Alcanises) is a small town in the province of Zamora, Spain. It is very close to the Portugal-Spain border, not far from the Portuguese town of Bragança. In fact, the Village is especially remembered for being the seat of the Treaty of Alcañices that on 12 September 1297 defined the border between Portugal and the Crown of Castile, the oldest in Europe.

Its name is of Arabic origin and means "the churches", although the origin of the town may have been a hillfort of the Zoelae.